


In the Tempest, we will find our love

by Takekurabehime



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: BB-8 is a goldfish just saying, Ben Solo is a prince, Chewbacca is a Dog, F/M, Fated Lovers, Fluffiness overload, I am just telling you 'cause, Like a prince prince, Mild Gore, Mild Language, Rey is kind of a brat, Skywalkers' family disaster, Their love is wholesome and pure, There is even magic in this house, They are drama queens even under the sea, mild description of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:54:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27107563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Takekurabehime/pseuds/Takekurabehime
Summary: The Skywalkers were gifted in the Force, as much as he was, if not more. He took one of them for himself to keep, breaking every inch of him, tainting his love for a Queen. Then their children came for him, and his time was done. It was the young man, Luke, who defeated him and thought him dead, naïve as he was.Instead his cultists had saved him and kept him hidden for years in the depths of the ocean,  saving the little life left within him. The throne went to the Skywalkers, said the mermaids and the mermen, now that they thought he couldn’t hear anymore. Rage burned within him more powerfully than his wounds pained him, and then, finally, somebody came: an ally who offered his services to him in exchange for power and revenge. That Palpatine understood well.With time he raised a new army, kept as hidden as he was, but not for much longer now. The young prince Ben Solo soon would come.So many years had passed and people forget easily.But he wouldn’t.He remembered, and so would everybody else, in time.
Relationships: Ben Solo/Rey
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3
Collections: To Rapture the Earth and the Seas: the 2020 Reylo Fanfiction Anthology





	1. Part I

Part I

_“Ben”_

There it was again, that sweet voice, calling for him with such tenderness that made his chest feel warm. He could feel it, the hesitancy that was creeping under the surface: something was bothering her. 

Every time he searched for her, he wanted to meet her, help her, but it was impossible in that thick, cold darkness. It felt like the loneliest place in the world.

But it was more than that. 

There was something off in that place. As he spent time there, he became anxious. It was a feeling that came out straight from his childhood, when darkness scared him the most. 

When bedtime came, when his door was closed and there was no light anymore, he wanted nothing more than to bury himself under his blanket. But his body disobeyed him, and he couldn’t help but let his eyes roam the room. 

And as he searched and searched, his eyes, almost as if they were following an invisible thread, kept falling on a corner in the room. Was that white shape lurking in the dark just the window curtain? And the shadow sitting there was, perhaps, a simple trick of the moonlight? 

It felt like a necessity, then, to turn on the light: when the myriad of crystals on the ceiling twinkled like small stars, he could finally see he was sitting on the bed alone, but he didn’t feel better at all. 

He just couldn’t shake off the feeling that somebody was looking at him. And, maybe, when he was bathed in light, what seemed invisible was just hiding behind his back. 

He often thought he could hear whispers in his ear.

Exactly like in that moment. 

No, he wasn’t alone.

Something else was there.

Ben woke up abruptly, his heart pumping incredibly fast. These dreams were becoming more frequent and he didn’t know how to deal with them. How to deal with _her_. He passed his fingers through his messy hair, and with a frustrated growl, he got up. The dim sunlight gently illuminated his chamber; the walls, entirely made of pearly white seashells, were decorated with corals, giant pearls and live sea stars. There were numerous tapestries made entirely with intertwined seaweed, black as ink, and shiny fish scales. In front of him, there was a precious mirror that reflected his image: a young merman with curly black hair, an intense gaze, and a long tail with scales the color of the night sky. After covering his pale skin with a simple white cowl, Ben looked outside the windows, where he could see the Royal Gardens, rich with blue and red flowers and ripe golden fruits that shone even in the depth of the sea. Beyond the gardens, the city of Atlantida flourished with life that swam between high towers and numerous vast streets. A giant vault, made by the Force, protected the city, making it invisible to unwanted eyes. Somehow, the Force made it possible for the sunlight to reach such depth in the sea, and everything was cast in a gentle, warm light. All of it was his. 

Sometimes it felt too much to handle, but he was a Prince, after all: Prince Ben Solo, with the blood of a princess and a scoundrel in his veins – and a destiny to abide.

His thoughts were interrupted by a subservient knock at his door; a small army of servants informed him that his family was waiting for him to dine with them. Ben gently dismissed them and swam quickly to his breakfast.

  
  


Luke Skywalker was worried. Ocean currents flowing from all the Seven Seas talked to him about pods of dolphins swimming erratically, losing each other; about white sharks sulking in the shadows, like they were afraid to be seen; and about big, gentle whales, whose singing had started to sound like grieving. 

A darkness more obscure than the depth of the Ocean was emerging, and it smelled of cinders and death. It was a smell he, somehow, knew.

He stopped meditating and stretched his back, adjusting himself more comfortably on the cliff upon which he sat. He was getting older and using the Force tired him. He frowned; he needed to prepare Ben as soon as possible. His nephew was the last one of his family capable of using the ancient power that the mermaid people called “The Force”. His sister, Queen Organa, was much more interested in governing than he was, and Han Solo was not a Force user. He had his own, different powers. After all, he was a criminal that managed to marry the princess of Atlantida, scandalizing an entire society in the process. As amusing as it sounded, it wasn’t the kind of power their people needed right now. If only Ben wasn’t so undisciplined – that, he took from his father. Recently, he seemed bothered, making him distracted during training and vulnerable during life. Many were the enemies of a prince, after all.

He left the rocks and strode towards the Palace, all pinnacles and lights from afar. He would have Ben trailed by a couple of the most gifted generals at Court. Dameron and Hux would follow his orders. Even if he didn’t have any military rank, just being the great legend Luke Skywalker, who once defeated an evil emperor, must mean something, mustn’t it?

* * *

“Absolutely not. I’m not letting this happen.”

Ben looked at Luke straight in the eyes, with a firmness that his uncle often hoped he would channel during training, instead of being his usual hot-headed, powerful, but unfocused self.

“But Ben, honey, why won’t you take some guards with you?” His mother, Queen Leia, sat elegantly at the breakfast table, where a banquet of oysters, lobsters, and crabs had been set. She wore a beautiful grey robe and her tail had been decorated with a string of pearls. On her ring finger shone a blue stone, her wedding ring. “General Dameron and General Hux are excellent and loyal generals, and your uncle just wants you to be safe.”

“Because my uncle, _Mother,_ wants to keep me in check, since he doesn’t believe I’m capable of controlling myself.” He had to, indeed, control himself to not murmur the last part too loudly.

Luke frowned at him but kept silent, and Ben felt his tail shaking a little.

“Don’t overreact, kiddo.” His father, King Solo, sat relaxed on the big white chair, in stark contrast to his mother. His outfit too, was much simpler: a comfortable white tunic held firmly with a belt made of fish bones. The merman’s tail was bare. “He’s just worried about you. Weird things are happening lately, and something feels odd in the Seven Seas. Even I, blessed by the lack of the Force, can feel it.” Han winked at him, and Ben was reminded, once again, of why his mother married him. His father had been a thief, and – some whispered – even a trader in the illicit spice cartel. Ben was sure these were malicious rumors. His father had always possessed a roguish charm and confidence: somehow, he always seemed to think he could handle every situation with ease. And he usually did, even lacking in the Skywalker’s Force, a “weird, old religion” that his father really didn’t want to be part of. 

“Besides, why shouldn’t Luke trust you? He is a Methuselah, but he’s still not out of his mind, you know? At least, not completely.”

Luke coughed and Ben’s left eye twitched.

_Oh no._

“Ben has been… unfocused lately, during his training, and some… incidents have occurred in the Arena.”

“Incidents?” Leia's tone was calm and cold, which absolutely wasn’t a good thing. “What kind of incidents?”

There was something bitter in his voice when Luke replied. “He has caused a series of explosions. Several, actually.” Luke’s shrewd look made Ben swell with indignation. “Some included the weaponry huts. He has been distracted recently and I don’t like it: he could be really dangerous if he doesn’t learn to be disciplined – not only for himself but others, too. Ben is perfectly aware of that but refuses to listen to me. I may be a Methuselah, but I am a conscientious one”.

Silence fell over the room and Ben could almost hear the disapproval of his family members. He had not shared his irresponsible behavior with them. 

_Like he could._

“What does this mean, Ben?” His mother’s authoritative tone hit him hard. “We know how… passionate you are, and how much you don’t like to follow orders, but to endanger others because you are not taking training seriously… This is quite… unexpected of you.”

Ben took a brief breath while his anger boiled under the surface. To keep himself in check, he stared at his crab salad with such focus that it seemed he was solving a murder mystery.

“It’s not that I don’t care or that I’m being sluggish with the training” He trailed off, unsure how to describe what was holding him back, or if he even wanted to. He tried again, his words still coming out awkward and halted. "It’s that – I’m being distracted.”

Should he share with them his strange dreams? That voice that called for his help? That weird, eerie sensation that, in those visions, there was an unwanted and frightening third presence? Would they even take him seriously? And yet, that wasn’t the real issue, was it? In reality, he didn’t want to share his dreams with anybody else. They were incredibly intimate, and they were something he wanted to be his and his only. Much like the girl in them. 

His thoughts were interrupted by his uncle's severe voice: “Is it something serious?”

Ben hesitated, looking at his salad again. “I don’t think it’s serious.”

“Then, remember that nothing is worth keeping you distracted from being a good ruler, Ben. You’re a prince before everything else, remember this.” And with that, Luke made it clear the conversation was over.

His family regarded him with more disapproval than concern and, with a bitter taste on his tongue, Ben nodded at them, looking straight into each person’s eyes.

* * *

The salty breeze caressed Rey’s face as she walked along the shore. Today she had the afternoon shift and the sun was already high up in the sky. Even though it wasn’t summer yet and the weather was still kind of cool, tourists were sunbathing, eating ice creams and walking along the beach, Good for the Millennium Seagull, she guessed. 

She finished munching her apple exactly when the cantina came into sight: it was an old building, with circular windows and weirdly angled walls. It was originally painted white, but so much time had passed that it was grey. It seemed that the Millennium Seagull could fall down at any given moment, but somehow, it resisted. 

But, she was getting paid to work there and, even if it wasn’t much, it was enough to allow her to rent a room. It was still a much, much better situation than all the shit she’d gone through in the past. The owners, a couple of weirdos named Arthur and Threepio, were decent too, she guessed. They had always been polite to her, and they even often offered her food. 

As she entered the cantina by the backdoor, she was immediately intercepted by Chewbacca, the biggest and strangest dog she had ever seen. He was a giant covered with brown fur that made him look like a lion. To this day she didn’t know what breed he was. 

“Hello, Rey! How are you?” As she entered the changing room, Rose’s gentle voice welcomed her. The girl patted Chewbacca on the head while Rey was still trying to move him out of her way. 

“Uh, hello Rose. I’m, uh, fine. How did it go today?”

Rose smiled while she folded her waitress uniform. She set it down on the shelf of the small locker room. “Great! We were swamped with demanding customers, the coffee ran out again, too soon, and one of Arthur’s inventions exploded. You know, a waitress’s dream day.”

She winked at Rey, which made her feel uneasy. Rey wasn’t good at interacting with people, but Rose always smiled at her and always asked how she was, so she tried to be nice back.

“Oh, and some old, gross dude tried to grope me.”

“What?! Did that disgusting jerk do something, or–”

“He couldn’t. He was too busy screaming because I accidentally threw hot coffee in his lap. Also, one of the inventions accidentally exploded right in his face. It wasn’t anything serious, but enough for him to scream he would never ever put a foot inside the Seagull again.”

“What a curious succession of coincidences.” Rey could feel a sincere grin forming on her face.

“Threepio thinks so too.” Rose winked at her again. She finished adjusting her beautiful black hair in the mirror and walked toward the exit. “See you tomorrow, Rey.”

“See you.” Rey waved back until the girl was out of sight, then she started to change into her uniform. While in her underwear, she tried to look at herself critically like Rose did, but she didn’t really like what she saw. Rose was petite and round, with full breasts and small hands and feet. She had raven hair and big black eyes. Rey, instead, was tall and thin, shapeless to the point that she could have been mistaken for a boy. She had freckles all over her body and her eyes were in a perennial scowl. 

She emitted a low whine that made her even _sound_ like a child and, wearing her ridiculous seagull hat, she begrudgingly went into the kitchen, following a delicious smell.

As she suspected, Threepio was at work. He had the craziest blond hair she had ever seen, and he could be kind of pompous sometimes. Coupled with Arthur, he could be peculiar, to say the least. But he was an ace of a chef, even in a kitchen as small as the Seagull’s: it had a low roof and everything there was _for_ something, even though she couldn’t fathom why a chef would need some of them. Somehow it reminded her of a ship’s galley. It was so cozy and warm that it was how Rey imagined what a kitchen in a normal house, with a loving family, was supposed to be. 

As usual, the smell of spices permeated the air. This time it seemed to be paprika and, maybe, coriander? Rey’s stomach growled and she tried to forget that she had only eaten one apple all day. With an uncertainty that was more an inheritance of the past than a necessity of the present, she approached the cook.

“Hello, _signorina_ Rey! You’re _un amore_ as always”. 

Threepio claimed to know more languages than Rey knew existed, and he never lost the chance to show off. Their conversations were often full of exotic words she wasn’t even sure were real. Maybe they weren’t, but they sounded nice, and it seemed like he was complimenting her. Or maybe he wasn’t, and he was throwing some serious shade at her. If that was the case, the shade sounded pretty and, in the end, she was going to get a free, delicious meal, so whatever. 

“ _Signorina,_ would you do me the pleasure of joining me? There is still time until the opening hour and I’m cooking a new _specialità_ that I’d love for you to try!”

She laughed a little and took a seat next to him. “What’s on the menu today, chef?”

Threepio started to serve her while Chewbacca was already at her feet, hoping for some delicious bites to come. Rey relaxed a little: a free meal and ridiculous conversation, what else she could ask for?

  
  


She stretched her back with satisfaction; her shift was finally over and it hadn’t been bad in the least. Nothing problematic happened – actually, nothing happened at all: she served the tables, nobody threw anything on the floor, nor did they try to grope her. She even got some good tips. After changing in the locker room, she waved at her fellow employees and left the Seagull. 

The night breeze was brisk and it pricked her eyes. Hugging herself tight in her hoodie, she walked quickly along the shore. There was nobody in sight and it was dead silent but for the sound of the waves a few meters from her. Hearing the echo of her feet should have been somehow reassuring, since it would have meant no murderer was following her, but in reality, it felt unsettling. Arthur and Threepio weren’t happy with her walking back home alone at night. They often offered to call for a taxi, but Rey hated to feel indebted to anybody, or to feel weak and in need of protection. She always refused and, in the end, she had lied about having a friend who worked near the Seagull and walked back home with her, solving the problem.

Actually, with the streets so quiet and only illuminated by the dim streetlights and faint moonlight, she wouldn’t mind if that friend were real, for once. She walked faster.

When she closed the door of her apartment, she finally took a breath of relief. Her home was, in reality, just a room in an old apartment building, but it had a bath, a kitchen, and a bed, so she didn’t complain. 

Moreover, it felt safe.

Next to her bed, there was a colorful aquarium, the prettiest and biggest Rey could afford and, inside of it, a puffy golden fish calmly swam.

“Hey, Beebee, I’m back. Miss me?”

The fish glided along so sluggishly that it made Rey feel sleepy.

“Uh, not a night owl, huh? Too late even for this?”

She shook a can of food and, almost as if Beebee could understand her, he woke up immediately, finally deigning to give her his attention.

“The way to a man's heart is through his stomach, eh?”

She sprinkled some food into the water and watched, entranced by that small fish who lived in a castle made of purple plastic, whose greatest worry was to be able to eat. She guessed that they had something in common, then. 

With a low grunt, she fell flat on the bed, too tired for anything. In a corner was her agenda. Inserted within the pages were mostly bill payments and old receipts, but there were also sketches that she did from time to time. Drawings of warm brown eyes that looked back at her from the pages, gentle and melancholic. But she only saw them in daydreams, or in nightmares.

On one of the pages there was a date, circled in ink. Bitterness seeped from the pit of her stomach to her throat. Beebee became very interesting. 

She gently poked at the aquarium in search of attention. “Are you going to bake me a cake, Beebee?” The sorrow in her own voice hit her harder than she would have liked to admit. She could almost feel tears prickling in her eyes.

Beebee didn’t look back at her.

She was so pathetic.

Her twentieth birthday would be soon. 

* * *

She was cold and lost in a deep, deep darkness. She couldn’t see anything around her, since there were no corners, no confines, no shadows or lights in that place. There was no sound but a voice that kept calling for her: somebody that knew her, but whom she didn’t want to know anymore.

“My princess. My dear little princess. You’re the only one. The only true one.”

Bony fingers fastened around her wrists, dragging her to a giant clothed in red.

She always tried to fight back but the figure seemed to be unscathed by anything. 

“You’ll overthrow him. You’ll see, you’ll see.” 

And then he grew in size even more, engulfing her. She felt tiny and weak, miserable and left in tears by fear. She wanted somebody to come for her. She didn’t want to be alone. 

“Please come, come, Ben.” That name was like a prayer, like a promise. She didn’t know who Ben was, and yet she knew that name was the most precious thing she owned.

* * *

That evening, Luke sat on the rock again and meditated for a long time, but with every breath, he felt distressed by something whose name was still uncertain, yet not unknown. 

He prayed to the Force with all his might, but if there were any answers, they got lost in the cold void of the sea. His ears, too, were getting older, less able to hear the murmurs of the Force. Or maybe he just didn’t want to listen, didn’t want to know what was going to be expected of him.

Of Ben. 

An exhausted sigh left his lips as his eyes roamed over the barrier reef, towards the main citadel. He spent too many hours on that old rock, and the sea told him it was way past midnight. The mild azure of the daytime and city streets, usually crowding with life, was now asleep under a cloak of deep darkness. The iridescent light of hundreds of jellyfish made pinnacles and towers glow. They were as beautiful as stars in the night sky, and yet Luke knew they were an extremely poisonous species, ineffective on mermaids and mermen, but mortally dangerous for humans. From afar, he could hear the gentle chant of whales. 

For all he knew, they could have been surrounded by sharks.

Such a weird place was the sea, so touchingly beautiful and yet savage, cruel: offering so much shelter to uncharitable creatures. 

If only Luke had known how much he was right.

* * *

Palpatine still remembered the glory of his Empire. 

He remembered the high walls of his throne room bathed in light with its purple tapestries. He remembered his royal guards dressed in armor as red as blood, holding swords and spiked javelins: weaponry suited to an emperor. 

And he remembered the throne.

He sat there once, imperious and corrupt, and ruled the greatest city of the Seven Seas, commanding armies to take all that remained. 

He wasn’t loved. No, he was feared and it was glorious. 

But time passed, and it appeared that people didn’t appreciate a tyrant. Disorder began and was brought to his attention, but Palpatine wasn’t scared, since he had no reason to be. He became the Emperor through might, mind, and the Force. Commoners, no matter how many, could never overthrow him.

And then the Skywalkers came and they lit up a flame. Disorder became a rebellion and, one day, the rebellion became a revolution.

The Skywalkers were gifted in the Force, as much as he was, if not more. He took one of them for himself to keep, breaking every inch of him, tainting his love for a Queen. Then their children came for him, and his time was done. It was the young man, Luke, who defeated him and thought him dead, naïve as he was.

Instead his cultists had saved him and kept him hidden for years in the depths of the ocean, saving the little life left within him. The throne went to the Skywalkers, said the mermaids and the mermen, now that they thought he couldn’t hear anymore. Rage burned within him more powerfully than his wounds pained him, and then, finally, somebody came: an ally who offered his services to him in exchange for power and revenge. That Palpatine understood well. 

With time he raised a new army, kept as hidden as he was, but not for much longer now. The young prince Ben Solo soon would come.

So many years had passed and people forget easily.

But he wouldn’t. 

He remembered, and so would everybody else, in time.

* * *

That night an earthquake shook the depths of the sea to its core, and by the next morning hundreds of corpses of fish, dolphins, sharks, and turtles piled up by the entrance of the Citadel, gently transported there by the ocean current. All through the city, cries of fear and anger rose up and the Royal Council convened in haste. 

The Council Hall was round and spacious, and the walls were embellished with deep blue corals that cast, in that moment, an ominous light onto the crowd of ministers of law and war. 

Leia sat regally on her throne and, had Luke not known her as well as he did, he would have thought she was calm and collected, but he could sense the tension under her scales. Han had a much more nonchalant look on his face, but Luke suspected he felt otherwise. Ben was right next to him, side-eyeing Generals Poe and Hux who, in their defense, appeared to be as annoyed at the idea of “babysitting” him as the prince was. 

Mon Mothma, the head of the Citadel Guards, stood up from her seat and, after politely greeting everybody in the room, started to speak in an apprehensive tone:

“Strange things have been happening in the Seven Seas recently: unusual temperature changes, earthquakes of increased intensity, longer nights, and now this. I know some of you think of the destructive actions of humans, but I disagree. The burns on these bodies are strange, not something I have ever seen before, and it is my belief that all those poor creatures were victims of something much more dangerous than humans. What it is, that, I don’t know yet. My Queen and my King, my dear friends, I ask of you to let me send some of my patrols in the depth of the sea, over the protective barrier of the kingdom.”

Murmurs filled the room as Mon Mothma kept going: “We know that above the Barrier unknown dangers may intercept us, but I know from experience that things will not get better if we do nothing”.

Han and Leia, without needing to look at each other, nodded their heads in agreement.

“Mon Mothma, you know we are people of peace” said Leia. “We don’t seek out danger. But I trust your judgment and, if your guards are with you, you have our permission to go and our blessing”.

The woman bowed her head in gratitude and so did the rest of the Council. 

But before everybody left the Hall a voice shouted out: “Wait!”

Everybody turned back to look at Prince Ben Solo, who had now stepped up to his parents. “Mother, Father, I ask for permission to take part in the patrol. I want to contribute to help our city”.

Surprise spread through the room, and Luke noticed how Ben’s left eye twitched. He sighed, hoping for the best.

Leia spoke first, her tone warm: “My son, we are proud of your good will, but it is unnecessary. We would rather have you here, helping us in the Palace”.

“It is unnecessary for a Force user to go where there is need for help? We are going to throw our guards into the unknown and–”

Han cut him off: “No, you’re not going. And we are not ‘throwing our guards into the unknown’: they are trained soldiers who have a specific duty. And while you have been trained well, you are not a knight, not yet. It is not safe for you to be away from us”.

Ben bit his lip and bowed his head. 

Luke sighed heavily. Well, that was a disaster.

  
  


Ben hit, and hit again, missing for the umpteenth time. Luke dodged every sword stroke effortlessly, almost enjoying it, which set Ben’s nerves on fire. It didn’t get better for him, knowing that Poe and Hux were watching from the corner, one bored and the other amused.They had known each other for years now, and Ben knew them to be loyal soldiers and decent mermen, but still. It was because he had known them for so long that he could imagine what they were thinking of this situation right now: two of the best Palace soldiers that could have taken part in the expedition and helped their friends, stuck in the Palace to look after him, like he was incapable of that himself. The worst part was that he knew the reason behind it. It wasn’t because he was in need of protection: Skywalkers weren’t cowards; if anything, they were the ones who were going to sacrifice themselves to protect other lives. So the reason for Poe and Hux to be there was to intervene in case Ben did something dangerous, not the other way around. 

He groaned in frustration and his blue sword crossed again with Luke’s, which had a blade of vivid green. Swords of Force users were created from mysterious crystals found in the deepest caves of the ocean. They were transparent and luminous, and they looked almost fragile. Instead, their edges were incredibly sharp and difficult to maneuver, and they seemed to fit only a Force user’s hand. In others’ hands they lost their light.

“Isn’t he getting worse?” Hux’s annoying voice came from the back, followed by Poe’s even more annoying laugh. Another hit came, and this time it was Luke’s who, with no difficulty, hit his hand, surprising him.

Looking at his hand, Ben realized Luke even had the time to be thoughtful, having hit him without any harm. He puffed in frustration and started to tear off his breastplate. 

“They are right, you’re getting worse. Or, even better, you are letting yourself be worse. What is happening, Ben?”

Guilt stung him; Ben knew his uncle was right. Kriff, even Hux was right!

Something had changed the night before in his dream. The girl’s cries no longer came from a nameless place he couldn’t see. The darkness that surrounded him had become thicker, and the air tasted sulfuric. The saliva in his mouth became doughy. And there was something else. Ben could have sworn that in the distance he saw shadows moving. It was difficult to say what they were, if they were mermen or something else, but when some of them noticed him, they started to move towards him. Ben didn’t run away; he couldn’t. He could hear the girl’s cries coming from the shadows. So he ran to her, instead. Those little scrawny things tried to catch him, and he fought back, but they didn’t let up. He still couldn’t figure out what they were, so dense was the darkness, but Ben saw glimpses of yellow eyes with red pupils. That couldn’t be…

He had woken up abruptly because of the earthquake. Maybe, Ben was just upset by the dream, but looking at his arms, he still felt the grasp of those things. Yellow eyes and red pupils… They couldn’t be. They had disappeared long ago, along with the previous emperor.

Should Ben tell his uncle about the nightmare? He thought of the day before, when he got scolded because he was not being a proper Skywalker as was expected of him. Rage burned within him again. He wouldn’t tell. He had this _understanding_ that he really shouldn’t share his dreams with anybody. It was an instinct, a _voice_. No, Luke wouldn’t understand. 

“Nothing.” Ben said, pretending to be calm. “Absolutely nothing.”

Luke’s eyebrows frowned and he sighed “Is that so?”

It was then that Ben saw a lingering shadow above his uncle's shoulder. It looked like the ghost of the Emperor, with a body made of smoke and with sparkling yellow eyes under a hood. Like in his dream. His blood froze in fear when he saw the creature getting closer to his uncle, so close and so fast, he almost didn’t catch the movement. Without thinking about it, Ben instinctually reached for the Force, unleashing it.

The shock wave that followed up was so intense that the entire arena was shaken to the core and Ben was violently pushed on the floor, while screams of terrors rose around him. For a few, blessed moments, Ben couldn’t understand what he really did, because a dense smoke screen of sand had risen up, obscuring his eyesight.

Once it settled, the first thing he did was check on his uncle, to be sure he was safe, and he was: Luke Skywalker was upright above his tail, no ghost or wounds in sight. His face was contorted in concentration because, Ben realized, his uncle was using a massive amount of the Force to shield people from rocks and bricks and all sorts of rubble. 

“But… but, what…” Ben mumbled incredulously while he saw Poe and Hux and other soldiers helping the many injured around him. The arena had suddenly changed into a battlefield where merpeople lay with broken arms and gruesome injuries.

felt his throat tighten up when he understood what had happened, what he had done. When he used his own power to save Luke, he lost focus, terrified, and… and he _couldn’t_ control himself, like everybody else had told him. It was he who had caused all that destruction. The Battle Arena of Atlantida that had been there for centuries was half gone, reduced to dust. And the ones he had hurt! So many!

Devastated, he went beside his uncle, wanting to help him in any possible way, but when he tried to reach for Luke’s mind, his master violently pushed Ben away from their connection. But he wanted to explain! He wanted to save him, and he didn’t know what happened. That a ghost…

“A ghost?” He could hear Luke’s voice in his mind, as real as hearing it with his own ears. 

“Yes!” Ben tried to explain, while joining his uncle in the Force, helping settle the rubble and debris. When this was done, Luke opened his own eyes. 

“You-” he spoke to Ben with his 'real' voice “-you saw a mysterious creature and the first thing you did was to use the full force of your powers out of fear?...You are enslaved by your own fear.”

Ben perceived Luke's thoughts as clearly as his words. He feared he had failed his own nephew, and Ben was too volatile and far too dangerous, not only for himself, but for his own people now.

All the weight of his uncle’s disappointment and mistrust fell upon him and, feeling his heart sinking, Ben slowly let go of their connection and swam away.

  
  


* * *

He slammed opened the doors of his parents quarters, breathless. Han and Leia were both occupied checking the gigantic, detailed map of Atlantida, beautifully engraved in a tall wall. 

“Ben, dear…” His mother's voice immediately soothed him, yet the thought of confessing what had just happened made him sick.

“I am… I have… I have done something, and it’s terrible and I didn’t want to, but I did it and… please, please listen to me!”

“Kid” his father put his calloused hands on his shoulders. “Calm down and tell us what happened.”

“I–” And then Ben saw it again - that weird ghostly creature with sparkly eyes. But this time, it was holding something shiny and sharp in its hand. 

A sword! The creature was holding a sword towards his father’s chest!

Without even thinking about the weirdness of the situation, Ben violently threw himself against the creature, but there wasn't a clash of swords. Instead there were screams of shock and terror, and the unsettling sensation of his own blade cutting through something like it was butter. 

His mother’s crying voice pierced his ears and heart, and for a while, Ben wasn’t able to focus properly on what he was looking at: his father, lying on the floor in Leia’s arms, with a deep wound in his chest. The floor tinted crimson from the blood, his father’s blood. The same that was on his blade.

Oh no.

Oh no.

Ben hadn’t hit the ghost, if there had ever been one there. He struck his own father, and heavily too.

“No, no… this wasn’t what I wanted at all…”

“Ben!”

His mother looked straight into his eyes, her face transformed into a mask of horror. 

Ben could only shake his head incredulously: it didn’t happen for real and his father wasn’t lying in front of him half dead. 

“…kid.” Han looked at him with so much confusion in his gaze, that Ben’s heart completely fell to pieces. 

It was when Han weakly stretched his hand towards him, and tried to smile, that Ben couldn’t take it anymore. 

He ran away from them, from everybody else. He was lost.

* * *

Rey looked mortified at the pieces of the broken dish on the floor. She had broken it, unfortunately, when thunder had hit incredibly loudly. It had startled her so much that she lost her grasp on the plate. Now the “special spicy salmon of the house” was looking at her with glossy eyes full of disappointment for having to be fed to the mice. Her cheeks burning with embarrassment and guilt, she mumbled some sort of apology to Arthur and Threepio, but both of them dismissed her worries with nonchalance, much more interested in what they could see through the windows.

“What a weird time of the year to have such weather! It really seems a tempest is coming.” 

Rey was deciding if battling with Chewbacca over the salmon was worth it, since letting the dog lap up the customers’ spoiled dinner would have made the cleaning process way easier. She heard herself suddenly say, surprising herself: “Yes, and I think it is going to be a big one.” 

* * *

On the back of his seahorse, Whisper, the prince was running, blinded by horror and suffering, wanting to get as far away from the Palace as possible. The sea’s darkness engulfed many things; maybe it could take him too. He incited the horse until he could sense the beast’s pain, until he was moved by pity and let the horse rest. It really was a beautiful creature: a giant sea horse, completely black with fierce red eyes, as splendid as rubies. One of his father’s presents. Thinking of him made Ben feel horrendous, and he didn’t want to imagine what his family must have been thinking of him right now. How much he had disappointed and hurt them. 

He sat, overwhelmed, on a carpet of corals, his head hurting. He didn’t know how it happened, why it did, or how to fix it.

Ben was shaken by a gentle, warm touch on his lap: Whisper was looking at him with his big eyes, and Ben found compassion in them. With a bitter smirk on his face, he gently petted the beast, to comfort which one of the two, he wasn’t sure. 

“What a beautiful beast, as dignified as its owner, dare I say.”

The prince jumped in surprise, his hand moving immediately to his sword.

“Now, now, my prince, there’s no need to be so belligerent.”

“Who is speaking? Come forward into the light!”

Slowly a figure approached him. It was tall and thin, with a knobby body that resembled a tree. Its blue eyes glinted with something that made him nervous. Ben already knew those eyes: “I know you. You’re Snoke, the wizard of the sea,” he said “You’ve been away from the Court for so long that people started to think you were a fairytale.”

Snoke’s smile was a crooked one, and yet there was something authoritative in it “And yet, my prince, here I am to serve you.”

“Serve me? How so?”

Snoke’s smile became bigger, and Ben could feel Whisper skin tensing up under his touch. 

“You see, my prince, you may not remember me, but I do remember you. As a matter of fact, I’ve looked after you for many years now.” His tone was so gentle it seemed genuine. Ben didn’t like it.

“What do you mean?” The prince kept his hand on his sword, trying to be as inquisitive as possible.

The wizard chuckled as if he watched a puppy rolling over. Ben’s grip on the hilt tightened.

“I mean that I have always had an interest in you and I do believe that you, too, would have been interested in me, had we had an occasion to converse a little”.

“You didn’t really answer my question.”

Snoke nodded his head in amusement “Didn’t I? Forgive me, my prince. I meant that I’ve followed your progress for years now, as a regent and as a Force user. And I have never been disappointed in the news.” He seemed so sincere that it confused Ben. 

“… How have you been following me? I’ve never seen you in the Palace, and our guards are loyal: it’s impossible to bribe them to get access to private information. What do you want from me?”

Snoke came closer to him and the prince felt the horse pulling his hand. “My prince, I am a wizard, as you said. Do you think walls, whether made of rocks or humans’ will, could prevent me from getting what I want? You know how the Force works, don’t you?” And there it was, stuffed under layers of false gentleness, a harsh, malicious tone. Did Snoke know about the Arena? About what happened with his parents? Or was Ben imagining everything? He was having visions of mysterious ghosts, afterall.

“And what is that you want? I thought nothing could prevent you from taking it.”  
This time Snoke laughed openly, satisfied. “Well, maybe there are some things I need help to get. I am a wizard, yes, but an old one and I’m beginning to feel my age.”

“Is that so?” asked Ben, skeptical.

Snoke smiled like a sphinx. “Maybe yes, maybe no. What I am sure of, is that you, my prince, could help me with ease, since _I know you_.”

“Oh?”

“You see, my prince, I know something happened to you very, very recently. Even though it would be better to say it finally became clear that something was already happening to you, which led to a disaster. And then to another, even worse, disaster. No, don’t look at me with such surprise. I am, indeed, known as the wizard of the sea; we established that already, didn’t we?” Snoke's tone was incredibly condescending, but Ben couldn’t really care about manners in that moment.

“Now, I would like to help you, my prince, to fix all your problems. I would love to, really”.

“And why would you help me?”

“Because I care about you.”

For a few seconds, Ben was left speechless. “And why would you care?”

“Does a good Samaritan need a reason for wanting to help?”

Ben was so confused that he considered that, maybe, Snoke spoke the truth, since he was being honest.

“Because I want something you could give me and, in exchange, I’ll give you what you want. I promise.”

The practicality of the wizard’s tone made Ben feel a little bit more relaxed. “So speak” he said, hopeful “Tell me about this deal.”

Snoke sat comfortably on a big armchair made out of red seaweed, which had appeared out of nowhere. Or maybe not. Ben noticed that it was he who must have appeared somewhere else. Some sort of giant cave, with walls so black that it could have been mistaken for the sea at night. The floor and the tapestries were as red as the armchair – no, the throne. Shadows shifting in the back of the cave told Ben they weren’t alone. He gripped his sword tightly again. The fact that he hadn’t even realized Snoke brought him here, that in the blink of an eye the wizard had teleported him, was more than enough to make the young prince wary of the old man.

“So” Snoke started nonchalantly. “There’s a human girl on the Earth, who is very important to me. I want you to find her and bring her to me. And you must do it before the next full moon. Do this for me and I’ll give you what you want.”

“A human girl?” The surprise was enough to make Ben forget all of his suspicion. “How am I even supposed to do that?”

Snoke waved away his worries. “I’ll transform you into a human and with that it will be easy to find her.”

“Easy? How will I ever be able to find her? I know the earthlings outnumber us a great deal.”

“You will find her because you’re meant to.”

“Meant to?”

“Because I say so.”

None of that made sense, really. And yet Snoke wasn’t lying, Ben felt it in the Force, in the same way he felt how powerful the wizard was, and how he was going to keep his promise. 

“And why is this girl so important to you?”

Snoke shifted uncomfortably on the red throne, as if a bad memory had suddenly resurrected in his mind. “My prince, in truth this girl is a danger to all of us. An ominous creature she is and, if not stopped, she will bring a cataclysm upon our world.”

“If she is so dangerous, why not talk to the Court then? My… family, they will help you.”

Snoke’s amiable smile became bigger and Ben could see the man had teeth like a shark’s “For what reason, Prince Ben, do you think you have never seen me in Court? Surely not because of any antipathy for your royal majesty, I assure you. It is the Court, if anything, that doesn’t like me. But that is another story, for another time. So, will you help this old wizard, my prince?”

Ben knew Snoke wasn’t as good as he pretended to be, and he also knew the wizard didn’t care if he figured it out. But he wasn’t lying either about the girl or the promise to help him. Most probably, the old man was in search of glory, for a way to regain his honor in the eyes of the Court, however he had lost it. If Ben accepted the offer, he could do something good for the kingdom, too.

And he could help his father. 

He stepped forward in defiance. “Snoke, old wizard of the sea, I accept your offer. I will give you my services and, in exchange, you will give me yours.”

Something dark passed through Snoke’s eyes, and he nodded in satisfaction. “Then, it is done.” 

Ben had expected some sort of show from the wizard: a flash and pop and, perhaps, a purple mist. Instead, when the wizard pointed his finger at him, Ben only felt an atrocious pain cracking his entire body and a scorching fire in his throat. The pain was so much it blinded him for a few seconds, until the world became red. 

* * *

Standing by the shore, Rey watched the angry sea. Waves crushed themselves against the shore and the sky darkened. A little rain was already falling. 

Weird, she thought, hadn’t Plutt found her in the exact same spot in the exact same weather, almost twenty years ago? She had been so little, so vulnerable then. That didn’t stop that gross… thing from taking advantage of her. Sure, he’d fed and sheltered her and gave her the clothes his poverty allowed. But Plutt had beaten her, from time to time. He said it was to “discipline her” but now Rey suspected it was out of enjoyment. 

As soon as Rey could run fast, he made her one of his couriers, probably the best one. She was too little to understand what she was doing, and Plutt paid her with candies, which made Rey happy. It was when she became a teenager that she understood what those little white bags she transported were. It was also the time she understood what other usage Plutt had in mind for her now that she was “a grown, pretty woman”. 

So, one night, before anything could happen to her, she escaped from Plutt and never looked back. For a few days, she was lost in the streets and lived in hunger and fear. But one evening, Arthur and Threepio found her unconscious in the backyard of the Millennium Seagull. She had been searching for food in the dumpster, but she must have been so weak that she had fainted. 

They welcomed her in, fed her and gave her warm clothes and a bed. They tried to learn what happened to her by asking gentle questions about where she came from, where she lived. Rey had learned over the years that words were dangerous things and that saying the wrong ones could end up getting her a black eye. So she kept quiet and they understood. 

Then she met Rose, and started to talk a little more. Finally she talked enough so that she could work there, could rent a room in a nearby building, and build a life little by little. For someone like Rey, it was like realizing a dream. However, she wasn’t able to let anyone close enough to overcome the walls she built around her. In this way she had never escaped Plutt’s home. 

What was going to happen from now on? What was going to become of her life? She couldn’t depend eternally on her employers. So, what could she do? She liked drawing, but what was going to come out of it? It wasn’t like she had a degree or anything.

She sighed, tired. The waves were really big now and Rey found herself envying them: they were free, untamable and – A clap of thunder exploded next to her and pierced her eardrums. Then, another one followed up and a flash of lightning blinded her. When the next wave hit, she lost her balance and fell off the shore.

Her impact with the water felt like a cold slap all over her body. Rey wasn’t a great swimmer, and the sea was already tossing her back and forth. She tried hard to reach for the surface, but she couldn’t, she couldn’t… The moment before she lost her senses, a warm hand grasped her own. 


	2. Part II

Part II

Ben spat out salty water and gasped as much air as he could. Breathing was something new for him, and yet it came completely naturally to feed his lungs’ hunger for air. His legs were still shaking and it was only because of Whisper that he was able to reach the shore. The loyal beast was still looking towards him between the waves, but Ben commanded it to get back home. If any Earthling happened to see such a creature, it would be disastrous. 

His arms were aching so much: he had grasped the girl with all his strength, scared she could have sunk. Now she was lying beside him on the sticky sand but she wasn’t breathing. “Shitshitshit.” What to do? What to do? He’d seen humans on ships blow into the mouths and press on the chests of people who had fallen overboard. He looked around in search of help, but the beach was empty and dark. He had to be enough. He positioned the girl’s head as he remembered seeing and leaned in. 

It was when his mouth was a breath away from her that the girl opened her eyes suddenly.

They both froze for a second, and a big smile of relief spread across Ben's face.

Another second later, and the girl punched him hard, screaming “Pervert!” and he lost his senses. Great.

* * *

Her gentle fingers caressed his face with tenderness, like she was afraid to hurt him. Ben’s head was lying gently on her lap, and he could feel the warmth of her body, the softness of her thighs and the tickle of her breath in his ear, when she spoke to him. 

“I am so sorry, I never wanted for this to happen. I never wanted to hurt you, only to keep you safe.” Her voice was sad and Ben wanted nothing more to make her feel happy, uplift whatever burden was crushing her, but he found it difficult to talk, like his mouth was full of water. Instead he reached for her hands. He intertwined her thin fingers with his own, and brought them to his mouth. With a devotion he didn’t know he possessed, he kissed every single knuckle, like they were beautiful petals of a frail flower. She sighed in response and Ben wanted very badly to look into her eyes. And yet, somehow, he couldn’t distinguish her features properly, like he was looking at her face through the bottom of a bottle. He could see she wore a beautiful, lacey gown. Ah, yes… He gave it to her, how could he forget? It was a present for… for…He wanted to say her name, but he couldn’t. Instead he gently nipped at her knuckles and, after she whined again, he darted out his tongue and…

“…doing?”

Uh, was she talking to him?

“..hat ‘r ‘u doin…?”

What was she saying, his precious, delicate…

“I said, what the hell are you doing?!”

Ben woke up abruptly, with his tongue sticking out his mouth like he was some sort of thirsty dog. A pretty girl with chestnut hair stared at him like he was the weirdest thing she had ever seen. 

Ben hastily covered his mouth like he was covering a sin, and his ears burnt with embarrassment. He tried to make up some sort of apologies for how dumb he must have looked, but he couldn’t direct his thoughts the way he meant to. 

Oh. He wasn’t supposed to use his mind to talk, but his voice. But Ben couldn’t speak. Not the way the humans did, at least.

Human beings didn’t use their thoughts to communicate, just their voices, but Ben never used his vocal cords, if he had any, and didn’t know what to do. At least for now, he hoped. 

He still hadn’t replied to her when something fluffy and heavy jumped on him, pushing air out of his lungs. Never in his life would he have loved more to be still able to breathe through his gills. 

“Oh, Chewbacca! Stop! Stop now!”

An enormous, hairy beast, that Ben remembered, from old lessons about the Earth and its dwellers, was called a “dog”, got off the bed and air finally reached his lungs again.

“I’m sorry! Usually he is pretty quiet, I don’t know what got into him. Are you ok?”

Ben nodded, smiling a little and making a gesture that in Atlantida meant “It’s ok, don’t worry”. 

The girl stared at him for a few seconds, and he could see an epiphany dawn on her face.

“Oh, you can’t talk can’t you? Oh, I am so sorry. I should have…”

Ben waved the hands in the same way as before and apparently the gesture was meaningful to her, as she looked a little bit less embarrassed.

“Well,” she said, sitting again. “I’m glad you’re ok. You slept a long time after yesterday, when I…” She frowned again at the memory “By the way, yesterday, on the beach… I… I am sorry I hit you. I understand now that you were trying to help me, but I was confused and… Yeah, well, sorry ‘bout that.”

She wasn’t looking into his eyes and Ben had the impression she wasn’t really sorry, actually, just really pissed off because she had to apologize to him. Ben’s eyebrows raised, a lot.

She was annoying. 

Even though she was pretty.

No, he didn’t like her.

“Do you want to go to the hospital? I mean maybe you should” She spoke with hesitancy, but also with a kindness that surprised him. Ben, however, shook his head no vigorously. He knew what hospitals were, they had them in Atlantida too. But he was not a part of this world and going anywhere could have been dangerous to him, not to mention useless. He was fine except for, apparently, getting knocked out by a human girl’s punch. 

The girl reluctantly asked “Are you sure? I mean, you probably should. You must have drunk a lot of sea water and you lost your senses for a while.” 

Ben denied with gestures again, and this time the girl understood him and relaxed a little.

“Well” she mumbled, returning to looking everywhere else but his face “Well, you woke up and apparently you’re ok and, uh, there’s a kitchen downstairs if you want to eat. Not that you have to get out of bed, yet, if you don’t feel like it. By the way, this is the place where I work, the Millennium Seagull. You’re safe here, don’t worry. And the owners, they’re decent people, you know? I don’t think they’ll make any fuss for you being here. So…”

Ben rested quietly under the bed sheets, kind of enjoying himself. Watching that prideful girl spilling out all those words in nervousness was pretty funny for a spoiled prince. 

“So, I’ll leave for now. See you later”. She trailed off her last words, and then abruptly left the room, the dog following behind her.

Ben looked puzzled at the small chair where she had been sitting until moments ago, almost expecting to still see her there, then he deflated on the bed, exhausted. He had a mission to accomplish and as fast as possible, by the next full moon, which meant very little time from now. First and foremost, he had to find the girl Snoke wanted. Snoke told him he would find the girl because “he was meant to”, but what did that mean? And what would happen to her after he brought her back to Snoke? So many questions, and yet not a single answer. His father…

Frustrated, Ben groaned and decided he had had enough of resting and thinking. He got out of the bed determined to begin his search immediately, no matter what. He would have fixed things, he would have come back and helped everybody.

He looked around the room. It was small and round, with little furniture, but very cozy. It was the complete opposite of his room at the Palace. On one wall, there was a square mirror, and he decided to have a look at himself: When Snoke had made Ben human, he’d had the courtesy to cover his body up with a simple black shirt and trousers. Even as a human, Ben noticed, he was really tall, with the same long nose and embarrassingly big ears. The only thing missing was his tail. He wondered… He lowered his pants, marveling at the sensation of the fabric sliding on his new found skin. What Ben found there was exactly what he’d always had, with the sole difference that now there wasn’t covered by protective scales. Instead, there was curly black hair at the base and nothing else. He realized that mermen and human men weren’t that different, afterall. For some reason, that made him feel reassured. About what, he wasn’t sure. 

When the door opened suddenly, Ben had no time to react whatsoever. 

“Listen, I brought you some food and…” The chestnut-haired girl’s sentence died abruptly. She had a dish of what seemed to be warm soup in her hands and big, round eyes that were now looking at him.

_All of him_

Her scream resembled the ones of the most mysterious, frightening creatures of the abyss. She dropped the bowl and slammed the door.

Fifteen minutes later, Ben sat in the kitchen of the Millennium Seagull, fully dressed with another plate of delicious soup in front of him. A waitress had served it to him. She was a small, cute girl with eyes as dark as his own. She told him her name was Rose and that she was a waitress there. He had also been introduced to a tall man with incredible golden blond hair, and a shorter, rounder fellow with a gaze that exuded sarcasm. Threepio and Arthur introduced themselves as the owners of the restaurant. 

“That’s Rey,” Rose said, pointing at the chestnut-haired girl. “She works with me here. She’s the one who found you.”

_Ah, so he finally knew her name._

Rey was crumpled up a chair, her eyes on the wall and her face still completely red. She completely refused to acknowledge Ben.

“Uhm…did something happen?” Rose’s tone was genuinely concerned and he understood she was a good person, and really cared for Rey. “I mean, until a few minutes ago Rey was super focused on cooking something good for you. She said that she wanted to apologize so badly…”

“Rose!” Rey finally broke out of her isolation.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“What you did wrong is being nice to that… that degenerate!”

Ben raised his eyebrows. He wanted to say that there was nothing “degenerate” in looking at your own genitalia and that she should have knocked on the door before entering the room but his voice still wasn’t working. There was little he could to do about it. 

“Oh? Did he do something wrong, Rey?” asked Threepio, concerned.

Rey seemed to be at loss for words suddenly. First, how was she supposed to explain what that weird guy was doing in front of the mirror checking himself out? Second of all… Well, he wasn’t really doing anything bad, was he? Her face flaming again, she more or less spit out the words, “No, nothing happened!”

“Well, then everything is fine then!” exclaimed Threepio. “Now, young man, Rey told us about what you did for her and we’re grateful for that. You can stay here as long as you want! Do you want a little more of the soup? It’s a _potage parmentier,_ ever had that before?”

Ben shook his head and Threepio kept enthusiastically pouring him broth in the dish. Rose busied herself petting Chewbacca, while Rey glanced at him, from time to time, blushing a little. In a corner of the room, Arthur was looking at him with a knowing gaze, and he seemed to be having a lot of fun. Nobody questioned him at all. Everybody welcomed him. 

What a weird group of humans, Ben thought, smiling a little.

* * *

Luke felt as if any possible chance of smiling again had vanished from his life. Ben had been missing for far too long, and Luke had absolutely no idea of where he could be. It didn’t matter the amount of Force he used to search for him, his young nephew seemed to be nowhere to be found in the entirety of the Seven Seas.

That morning Han had asked again about his son, ten times more worried for him than the king could ever be about himself. Luke knew that the old scoundrel was a tough one, and that not even a wound caused by such a special sword held by his powerful son could defeat him. But Ben being gone? That was breaking Han’s heart. 

Even Leia was extremely anxious, not only for the prince, but also because the soldiers sent to patrol still hadn’t come back. Abandoning his useless meditation, Luke called for Hux and Poe. There was little he could do right now, and help was always welcomed.

When the two young generals arrived, he instructed them in what to do: find Prince Ben Solo as quickly as possible, and bring him back home safely. Also, they had to be discreet about it. The missing of the heir to the throne was not news Luke wanted people to know about right now.

“Check the surface too” said Luke, just before the two mermen departed on their mission. “I can’t find him in the sea so, maybe, somehow, he’s on land.”

* * *

“What are you doing?” That’s what Ben would have liked to ask Arthur when he saw the little man messing with a diving suit, just like the ones that sometimes were found in the abyss of the ocean. He wanted to, but his voice still wouldn’t work. He sat there in frustration, while Chewbacca tried to sleep on his lap. 

“This is an advanced technological diving suit for deepwater exploration. Arthur is an inventor, you know?” Rose approached him with her usual gentleness and a mug of coffee. Ben thanked her with a nod of his head. Even though he had spent such a small amount of time at the canteen, he had already memorized the restaurant’s routine. The place was so much calmer and simpler than the Palace. Had he been at home at that time of the day, Ben would have probably finished his morning training, and he would have soon prepared for a long Council Session. Instead, he was helping in the kitchen and serving tables. Threepio said that since he had been there, the female customers had doubled. Ben wasn’t sure what that meant, but to him it was a great occasion to meet as many people as possible, and to give back at least a little help to his gentle hosts. He had told them his name by writing it on a paper and, thankfully, they spoke the same language, which made communication doable. In that moment, he was helping Threepio prepare some sort of exotic dish, while the chef sang incomprehensible songs and Arthur experimented with tools that shouldn’t have been in a kitchen at all.

It was also time for Rose’s shift to end, which meant Rey would have soon be there.

The young prince felt his cheeks warming up at the thought of her. Rey had been avoiding him, but he did notice how, from time to time, she looked at him, in ways that made him feel happy.

His thoughts got interrupted by Rey when she stormed into the kitchen drenched in rain.

“Rey, are you ok?” Rose immediately lent her a towel, which taller woman took gratefully.

“Uh… yes, I was caught in the storm, but I am fine, really.”

“Oh” Threepio stopped singing “Is it raining again? What weird weather indeed...”

Ben cursed internally. So even on land the weather was behaving in strange ways? He needed to act faster.

Like in many fairy tales, at dawn the Millennium Seagull transformed, but not in an enchanted castle. If anything, it changed from a family restaurant to a decadent Wild West salon. Clients sang as bad as actors in old Hollywood western movies, and got even drunker.

That evening, a particular group of drunk idiots blessed the restaurant with their noise. They kept ordering beer and complaining about how much it sucked and that the price wasn’t fair at all. Rey would have loved to keep pretending they weren’t sitting at one of the Millennium’s tables, but it became particularly difficult when they started pestering the clients into buying them food and drinks. Sighing, she went straight to them.

“Sir, if you want to order something, please ask me, I can guarantee you I am a much better waitress than any other clients here.” The one she was talking to was a middle-aged man with a big nose emphasized by the redness caused by the alcohol and glossy eyes.

The bunch of idiots must have shared one brain as she suspected, since they all reacted simultaneously to her in the exact same way: dumbfounded like they were looking at an alien. Maybe that was what she looked like in the eyes of drunkards. They looked stupefied for a few silent seconds, then the one who seemed to be the youngest one stood up on unsteady legs and, with a surprisingly focused gaze, threw an entire pint of beer on Rey’s head. He burst into laughter, and so did the others.

Rey was so shocked that for a few moments she didn't know how to react at all.

“I can’t believe this” screamed one of them. “It totally looks like she is covered in piss!”

One of them pretended to smell Ray, making her feel even more uncomfortable. “And she smells like piss too! Are you sure that’s beer you’re selling in this pile of garbage? Yes? Then you already smelled like piss before? Did you forget to change the rags you wear this week? I come here often and I always see you wearing the same trash… Well, I mean you are kind of suited for this place.”

Now other clients started to laugh a little too, and Rey felt tears prickling at her eyes.

She breathed deeply. “Leave the restaurant immediately, or I am going to call the cops on you”

The laughs abruptly stopped. This time, the one that looked the oldest, and the biggest, stood up.

“Uh? Are you threatening us? You’re threatening your customers?”

Rey kept her tears in check. “I am asking you to leave, threats will come later.”

One of them whistled at her. “Wait a second, I know you. You worked with Plutt, didn’t you? Yes, I remember you!”

Rey felt her blood freeze. No way, this couldn’t come out here and now.

“Yeah, I remember the old bastard. I was one of his… friends, you know? And you… ran away, didn’t you?”

Another man asked“How did you survive by yourself? Eating garbage?”

The man said it like it was a joke, but Rey felt as if she had been caught red-handed. She must have been unable to hide her feelings because the same man, after looking at her in awe for a few seconds, started to laugh even more than before.

“You did! You totally did! You scavenged garbage for food and still wear rags. Do you live in a cardboard box or something?”

Everybody was paying attention to them right now and Rey felt she couldn’t stop her tears anymore. She clenched her teeth and her fist shaken: rage fueled her. Without thinking, she hit one of the men with her empty tray. Or attempted to. 

A big, strong hand held her wrist gently, stopping her murderous attempt midair. 

Ben was standing right next to her, his imposing figure looming even over the men at the table. His elegant features were hardened, his jaw tight, but it was his gaze that betrayed his emotions the most. Rey had more than once shamefully admired his deep, warm, and tormented eyes. But now she could only recognize pure anger in them.

Keeping his furious gaze on them, Ben gently but firmly lowered her hand.

“Oh, what do we have here? Is this your boyfriend? Do you think this prince could scare us?”

Ben kept a façade of calmness that made Rey feel unsettled. She wanted to punch the men hard, but Ben was big and stupidly strong and she couldn’t get free from him and he was going to pay for that later!

But then something incomprehensible happened: the bunch of men completely shut up, like a remote turned their volume to mute. They looked at Ben enthralled, like cobras at a snake enchanter. Then they simultaneously stood up and, without paying any attention to Rey, left the Millennium.

Not without leaving a really, really generous tip, more than what they should have paid for their dinner. 

A few seconds later, she heard a huge splashing sound coming outside the restaurant. Rey, along with many others, ran out to check. The men had all thrown themselves in the sea and were now screaming for help, even though the water was at low tide, making everybody burst into gales of laughter.

Rey was puzzled: what the Hell had just happened?

Ben finally let go of her hand, making Rey realize that he had been holding it all that time, fuelling her with embarrassment. But if he was embarrassed too, she couldn’t tell.

He looked at Rey from head to toe, and it seemed he was searching for something. Maybe if she was ok? But he had held her with such gentleness that there was no sign left. The only thing lingering on her skin was the warmth of his own. 

Then he simply went back to the restaurant, leaving Rey speechless and confused on the shore. 

  
  


“I am going to be fine, really.” Rey had been trying to dismiss her employers’ worries for a while now, since the closure of the restaurant. “I am, it was really disgusting, but I’m not hurt, really.”

“Yes, we have to thank Ben for that! Oh, Rey, I am so sorry I wasn’t there too. Those thugs are never coming back at the Seagull, or else…” Arthur hinted at Threepio and Chewbacca, as if there couldn't be a worse consequence than dealing with those two. Threepio, as usual, uttered some impressive blasphemy that, in fact, terrified her and Chewbacca continued drooling gallons of saliva on the floor. It could be considered a frightening sight.

“Um, yeah, thanks to Ben. By the way, where is he?” Rey asked. Both men shrugged and Chewbacca kept drooling. It was probably the best she could get. Rey took off her uniform quickly and, after further reassurances, left the restaurant.

On the way back she finally saw him: Ben was standing on the beach looking at something in the distance, his figure barely illuminated by the lights of the dock. There was no one else in sight, and the only noises were the crashing of the waves on the beach and the buzzing of the electric lights. Usually Rey felt anxious on her way home, but somehow the sight of Ben immediately calmed her down. 

The evening breeze chilled her, yet Ben was barefoot, with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to the elbows. Rey gulped: he had such muscular arms. Heat spread in her cheeks as she remembered how strong his hand was around her wrist. Ben was… He was really handsome, but in a singular, contradictory way. He was tall, with an imposing physique that exuded masculinity. And yet his face had soft, almost childish features. His ears were too big, and his teeth were pearly, but a little crooked. He had a long and elegant nose, and his face was sprinkled with moles. Rey wondered if the rest of his body was too.

Even his manners were difficult to read. He ate with grace, he was gentle, hardworking, always willing to do whatever job he was assigned to. But Rey sensed he wasn't humble. He was, if anything, used to command. His gestures and his eyes always expressed a certain authority, as Ben had proved a few hours before at the restaurant. Somehow Ben had convinced them to literally kick themselves out of the restaurant. But Rey suspected that, even if Ben could have talked to them, he wouldn’t have, because he considered them too beneath himself.

When Rey looked again at him, he was looking back at her too.

Under his intense gaze, she almost forgot what she wanted to complain about. The butterflies she felt in her stomach while looking at him shook her up, like a slap in her face. Whatever path her emotions were going down, it was the wrong one: Rey didn’t need or wanted any attachment of sorts. She had little to no faith in relationships. She suspected most people built them out of convenience, to not feel too alone, and that if she had one, it would cease to exist the very moment she proved herself not in the same league as her partner. If, at times, the happily ever after really happened for other people, it wasn’t because of merit, but fate. And luck had never been on Rey's side.

So, no thanks, Beebee had to be enough. 

Because of that, when Ben approached her, Rey tried to double-dawn on her anger.

“Hey, I just wanted to tell you that, you know, I was perfectly capable of handling those idiots by myself, and that I didn’t need your protection, or anybody else’s, for that matter!”

Ben was now in front of her and, under the feeble light of the lampposts, she had a better sight of his indecipherable eyes. Was he angry? Annoyed? Did she offend him?

“Listen, I… I appreciate your help, ok? But I am strong, you know? I can make it by myself.”

On his face blossomed a little cocky smile, which made him look even more attractive. 

Bastard.

He wasn't taking her seriously, was he? He didn't think of her to be strong enough to handle the situation by herself. He looked rich. Perhaps Ben, seeing the kind of clothes she wore, the greedy way she stuffed herself, thought little of her. Maybe she still looked like her younger self, when she wandered the streets scared that somebody would beat her up and steal her food. Perhaps he thought she looked funny. Maybe he thought she was ugly too. She was ready to say something really nasty to him, at least to stop her ridiculous tears, when he gently placed a hand on her wrist. 

Rey noticed how callused his fingers were and how many scars there were along the back of his hand. One was fairly recent. Ben moved his fingers along her own and then held her hand tightly. His hand was so much bigger than hers, and the thought made Rey feel hot. Unable to keep holding Ben's gaze, she focused on their joined hands. Then he began to manipulate her hand to his own liking, until he made her close all her fingers in a fist. Rey looked at him, confused for a moment, and then she understood.

_Oh_

That was the proper way to punch. To protect herself if she needed to. Because he thought she was capable. 

When she looked at him again, with that insufferable smile of his still there, Ben winked at her, making Rey’s heart skip a beat.

When he let go of her hand, Rey felt as if something important had been stolen from her. 

He walked a few steps ahead and then turned back to look at her. Rey understood it was his way of asking her if he could accompany her home.

She accepted without hesitation, and not out of fear. 

When she was safely at home, and Ben had already left in his gentle silence, Rey looked up at the sky from her small window, in the same direction Ben had looked before: between the stars, a quarter of the moon was shining. Melancholy overwhelmed her. 

* * *

“She’s a little bit of a feisty creature, isn’t she?” Palpatine seemed to be enjoying whatever the Force let him know about the girl a lot.

“So it would seem, my Emperor.”' Snoke was right next to him, wearing a golden garment that glowed in the darkness of Palpatine’s throne room, so shiny that it put a shame the armors of the small army of guards circling them, vibrant with a red that resembled a fresh wound. 

“But, in the end she is nothing more than that, isn’t she? I can’t hide that I am a little disappointed.” Yet, Palpatine seemed to truly enjoy himself. Snoke was both amused and annoyed by that old carcass now sitting with triumph in a throne in which he didn’t fit anymore. He could have felt compassion for Palpatine’s delusions of omnipotence and his useless plan to return to power, had Snoke not despised him so much. What had once been the most powerful man of the Seven Seas now lived hidden like a filthy criminal in the depths of the oceans, buried in a dark temple,built by his obsessed acolytes. Well, it didn't matter. What was crucial to Snoke was that that idiot put an army at his disposal. At the right time, he would take care of him. But not yet, he still had an important role to play in their complicated story.

Suddenly the emperor's face creased with concentration and his eyes widened as if they were looking at something through a magnifying glass.

“Well it seems, wizard, that we are going to have some guests soon. An old friend of mine, actually. Please, welcome him as he deserves. Do not disappoint me.” Snoke bowed deeply, feeling his guts revolting at his submissiveness. Just a little time more.

“And then, after I have killed them all, a new Empire will be born, and no Skywalker, or anybody else, will be able to destroy it” Palpatine continued.

“I can assure you, my Emperor, that is exactly what I am here to serve you for.”

* * *

  
  


Eventually the patrols returned, gently carried by the sea currents. Their lifeless bodies settled at the entrance of the Palace, among the colorful flowers and the coral fields. Leia searched tirelessly among the dead soldiers fearing for Ben, not able to hide her relief when she discovered that her son was not in that pile of corpses. 

The council was in total panic. It was clear by now that what they had attributed to a series of coincidences had been caused by someone who was now openly threatening them. Sea beasts carried with them reports of sightings of mysterious groups of soldiers dressed in red hiding in the deep darkness of the sea and tribal songs shaking the night of the ocean.

Luke knew he had to go before anything else horrible could happen. He looked at the hilt of his sword, the same one he used to train Ben. He had not yet heard from Poe and Hux and the memory of how he had treated his nephew the last time they saw each other made him feel deeply guilty. He hoped that they would meet again, so he could apologize to him.

About the direction he had to take, Luke had no doubts: the Force would guide him. He left the Palace in secret and with a heavy heart. May he find the light.

* * *

Shopping with Ben turned out to be way funnier than Rey expected. Ben had kindly volunteered to bring by himself all the stuff that had been requested by their bosses. He had also bought Rey a delicious ice cream which he paid for with mysterious coins that she could have sworn were made with pure gold. The ice cream man happily indulged in putting an extra layer of whipped cream on Rey’s cone. When the two of them finally accomplished their task, they sat exhausted on a bench to savor the sunset in silence. 

It seemed funny to Rey that this strange man that she had known for so little time, made her feel more at ease with herself than anybody else before. It was like she had known him for centuries.

Sometimes, when Ben smiled at her, as if Rey had said some joke without even noticing it, she wanted to slap him, hard. And sometimes, he could be so stupidly pretentious. Like when he drank coffee with his little finger up.

Ugh, spoiled brat.

And yet, when she cursed, or when she stuffed her mouth with food and without any grace whatsoever, Rey could have sworn he looked at her with tenderness. 

Which had caused her unwanted palpitations.

Even though, probably, they weren't really that unwanted.

And there was something so deeply sad about this gentle, beautiful man. He always looked as if he was carrying a painful burden on his shoulders. Wherever he went and whoever he met, he always searched around him with such a penetrating gaze, as if Ben was searching in every face he saw for an answer to a complicated question.

Even now Ben’s eyes were looking at a place far away from him, way further than the horizon. 

Rey coughed to catch his attention.

“Um … would you like to taste it?”

He raised his eyebrows suggestively, and she felt like dying.

“Ice cream! I meant the ice cream!”

Ben made a little laugh and Rey felt, again, the absolutely unwanted desire to touch that adorable dimple on his cheek.

He leaned toward her, so big that he almost shadowed her from the sunlight. With slow strokes of his pink tongue, he savored the ice cream like a cat would.

Rey’s pink cheeks became red. She wasn’t going to survive until the end of the day; she was sure of that.

A huge chariot passing by saved Rey from her not exactly platonic thoughts about Ben.

“It's the chariot they are going to use at the town festival!” she exclaimed enthusiastically “It's a festival staged every year and, you know, you might not believe this, but it's very famous for its ball on the beach. It's so beautiful. So dreamy!”

Or so Rey imagined, since she had never been there once, not able to afford a decent dress to not embarrass her “prince charming”. Not to mention there has never been a prince charming at all.

Suddenly a loud noise came from the chariot itself, followed by cries of exasperation: one of the wheels had broken. Ben immediately stood to help and, with his gaze, asked Rey if it was ok for him to leave her alone looking after the packages. She nodded and, as Ben was walking, Rey had the chance to appreciate his back. 

But then, suddenly, something else caught her attention: in the corner of her eyes, she saw a blurred silhouette, something that looked like it was made of gas. Rey only managed to catch the glimmer of yellow eyes before the shadow slipped away, running into a small alley.

Strange thing was, Rey wasn’t scared at all. If anything, something told her that that shadow wanted to be followed. She thought of hearing whispers in her ear calling her name over and over. 

Ben seemed to be too occupied to pay attention to her, and Rey didn’t want to bother him anyway. She was just going to check and surely it wasn’t going to take long, just a minute. Nobody was around, so the packages would be safe. 

And so Rey followed the shadow. 

The alley was damp and dark, so narrow two people couldn’t have walked in it standing next to each other. And it was seemingly empty. Walking was hard, since she barely saw where she was putting her feet, until she saw it again: in the back of the alley, a pair of cat eyes were looking at her.

_Rey Rey Rey_

Those eyes were so weird.

And yet, she felt so calm, so light hearted. What was there to be afraid of? The voice that was calling her was so gentle.

But those eyes… did cats have those eyes?

Just a few more steps, and Rey would be face to face with the shadow. It was so gentle, so nice, trying to reach for her with its hand.

A claw? No, no… it was a hand for sure.

_Rey Rey Rey_

“I’m here, I’m here.”

She extended her own hand too and gently brushed against the shadow.

A rough, sweaty hand, made of flesh and bones, grabbed her abruptly, waking her up from her daydream. In front of her was a man she knew all too well.

Unkar Plutt.

No way. Impossible.

She had run away from him years and years ago.

And yet there he was: a mountain of meat with a hog face. When he spoke to Rey, his voice sounded weird, like an echo of his own.

“There you are, kid. Where were you? You made me worry” In one hand he was holding a baseball bat that Rey knew too well.

She withdrew. For every step he took, Rey took her own, until she fell back on the old wood floor, hurting her back and her elbows. There were shadows at the corners of her eyes.

“It can’t be. You… How can you be here? I left you! I did.”

He kept stomping towards her and Rey kept crawling on her back. He was looking at her in the same way he did when Rey didn't bring “home” enough loot.

“Left me? What are you saying Rey?”

Now the shadows seemed to surround Plutt, and their yellow eyes were all on her.

_Get Rid of him Rey. Show to Him what you can do._

Plutt grabbed her legs and dragged her towards him. Rey felt like she was suddenly pushed down underwater, and everything in the world around her became muffled. She kept thinking that she had to do something, shake him off, scream, but it was like she had been trapped in her own skin.

_You should kill him Rey You should get rid of him You should do it and we can help you do it. You Just have to show us Rey what you can do Make the other one proud of you Rey._

What were the voices she was hearing? Was she hearing them from the beginning?

He made her stand and grabbed her roughly by the chin, like every time he did when she was a child and he was going to slap her hard. She closed her eyes, too scared to react. She was still her useless self, still a tramp who searched for food in trash cans, still wearing rugs.

“You are never going to leave me kid.”

**Kill Him Kill Him Rey Prove Him Wrong**

_BenBenBenBenBenBenBenBenBenBen_

Rey was almost overwhelmed by fear when she suddenly felt it: Ben's presence, like a beacon of light in the darkness, her darkness. It surrounded her and hugged her tightly, so warm and so sweet. And she could not explain how but, even though she couldn’t see him, she knew that Ben was there with her. It was like he was half of her.

And Plutt wasn’t scary anymore: he was just a weak, old man, so pathetic that he had to resort to violence to defend himself against a child.

He was a shadow of the past she put at her back now that her path had been lightened by Ben.

When she spoke, she did so without hesitation.

“I'm not a stupid little girl, Plutt, and I'm not weak. But most of all, I'm not alone anymore. And you ... you're not scary anymore.”

He looked at her with empty eyes until the shadows seemed to whisper something to his ears, and his face was again transfigured in a mask of violence.

Rey would never allow him to hit her anymore. Not him, nor everybody else. Instinctually she called for something and then she heard a sound she’d never heard before in her head, like a heartbeat and simultaneously a feral growl. Plutt was violently pushed away by a brutal force, and Rey could hear the sound of breaking bones. It was like a wave had crashed into him. 

And then Plutt was no more. She blinked a couple times and everything was over. She was in the alley again, held by Ben. He was pushing her hair away from her face with hesitancy, and his eyes were full of wonder.

“Ben” she said to him in a feeble voice “Did you see what I was capable of? But was it me? Or was it you?”

_I think both of us, and I think I have found you Rey._

Ben’s voice, which resonated in her mind crystal clear, was deep, baritone and reassuring.

She put her hand on his one, and then Rey passed out. 

* * *

  
  


The Force beat in his chest like a second heart, and Luke knew that he had found the place for which he searched, even though he still didn’t know why.

There was a sea trench in front of him where the light disappeared; a noise similar to a buzz emanated from it. But Luke realized he wasn’t listening to it with his ears, but with his head. The Master drew out his sword to use it like a flashlight while going down into the trench. The further he swam, the more the temperature dropped, and his path was crossed by unusual creatures with bodies that seemed made of air and light. The buzz slowly increased, but the silence of the world outside his mind was unnatural; the sea was quiet, it was true, but alive. There were the songs of the dolphins, and the symphonies of the whales and the sound of the water rioting as the storm raged. In this place there was a dead silence, and the deeper he swam, the more the water took on a metallic taste, like... 

A few meters away, illuminated by the light of the sword, Luke saw the corpse of a dolphin, and then a shark, and then many others. There were even mermaids and mermen, floating in the water weightless, without limbs or eyes and with hollow chests where organs had been ripped away. 

So this is where the bodies came from.

Luke made a short prayer for them, entrusting them to the Force, and then advanced, the buzzing in his head so loud that he thought his brain might burst.

A few hundred meters away, Luke saw a faint light and swam towards it. As he suspected, it was coming from what appeared to be the entrance of a cave. As he walked through it, the noise ceased abruptly, and a voice spoke to him: “Master Luke, my old friend, come forward. I’ve been waiting for you.”

_Palpatine._

Luke kept a firm hold on the hilt of the sword and continued.

He met several guards along the way, but none of them tried to stop him. Instead, they all stepped aside, as if he were a welcomed guest. In the corner of his eye, he saw strange creatures, like shadows with shimmering eyes, feasting on a pile of flesh.

At the end of the long tunnel, a huge cave was dimly illuminated. The walls were strewn with hooded figures similar to the ones Luke had seen in the corridors. They too were feasting on what Luke recognized to be the fingers, arms, lungs, and hearts of the mermen and mermaids.

In the center of the Hall, on an imposing white throne, sat Palpatine, a century old decrepit being, surviving out of sheer willpower. The one who had once been the emperor, stretched out his arms towards him, as if he wanted to embrace an old friend. Next to him there was a tall, skeletal man dressed in gold and with a smile carved into his flesh. _Snoke_.

“Palpatine, the sea thought you dead. Instead you hide here, in this wicked place, plotting... what?”

The emperor showed a toothless smile that spread all over his face, like a child. Luke did not fail to notice how Snoke gave him a disgusted look.

“Master Luke, when you are dead like me, you have so much time to spend. I used mine to search, reflect and remember. And I have to thank you for the important role you played in all of this.”

“What role are you talking about?”

“The boy. You sent him away, didn't you?”

An ominous feeling fell upon him, and something in his mind changed. It was like he suddenly found himself facing an enigma, the solution of which was in his grasp, but he still didn’t know how to reach it. 

“Where's Ben?”

“The boy will be here soon, do not fear. And I didn’t leave him alone. He has recently found an old acquaintance of his. Of all of us, really.” Palpatine gave a small laugh, like he remembered a funny joke. “Isn't it interesting how, if you do not remember something, it's like it never existed? What do you think, Master Luke? Is it the Force who is maneuvering our fate, dictating what we could do or not, and for what purpose?”

“Never in my life have I felt the Force was using me,” Luke said. “If anything, quite the opposite. I think you misunderstand the nature of the Force: it is not there to make an instrument of fate, but to guide you along the right path, if you have ears to listen.”

Palpatine make a gesture like applauding him

“You’re wise beyond your years, Master Luke. But now…”

Palpatine summoned two hooded creatures that took Luke by the wrists. The master could finally see them properly and recognized them for what they were: sith. Creatures of darkness that had not been seen for a long time. So that was who Ben saw. It was Palpatine who had maneuvered his nephew against his own family… No, it had been Luke, Leia and Han’s fault, for not listening to the kid, for not trusting him enough, lost in their righteousness. Had they listened to Ben, this could have been stopped earlier.

But it wasn’t all Palpatine’s doing. He couldn’t have called the sith all by himself. It has been his faithful acolytes too. And Snoke helped him. But why? And then, before he knew, Snoke himself was in his mind. 

_Because this time history is not going to repeat again. This time I am going to win._

And Luke fell into a tormented sleep. 

* * *

_Ben, why? Why is that?_

Rey lay lifeless in Ben's arms. He was crying and his sword was drenched in Rey’s blood. 

_Ben, why?_

**_My beloved niece, my princess, come to me. I am the only one who really loves you._ **

* * *

Rey woke up in the guest bed at the Millennium, the very same one Ben had used. It was Ben who was sitting next to her, his eyes hooded with worry and exhaustion. Rey did not know how long she had slept, but the light coming from the window told her the sun was high up in the sky. Perceiving Ben’s inner turmoil, Rey reached out for him and took his hand. 

“It’s ok Ben, I'm fine. I… I am free, you know? I am finally free of his shadow. I feel stronger, better.” She gulped a little. “Also because of you. Thank you for being there with me Ben”

Ben took her in his arms and held her tightly, and all the fear Rey had felt from the recent conflict liquefied and flew outside her body. Finally, finally, she cried without fear and hesitancy anymore.

Rey was safe in Ben's arms, and nothing bad would ever happen to her again.

He held her close to him for a long time, cradling her like a little girl, until she shed her last tear and fell asleep again. This time there were no nightmares.

When Rey woke up for the second time, it was sunset. Ben was still sitting next to her surrounded by a myriad of coffee cups. When he saw that she was awake, he leaned toward her, eyes full of compassion, and took her hands in his own.

_Rey, I'm so sorry. When I felt you were in danger I ran to you. But I should have gotten there sooner. Whatever that was, Rey, it was awful and it should have never happened to you._

Oh .

So Rey didn’t imagine it, then. Ben was really speaking to her through their minds.

“Ben, what was that? I think it wasn’t real, but what actually happened? And what was that thing that I did to Plutt? That you did? Are you an alien?”

He gave a small laugh. 

_No, This is... Rey, I don't know how this is possible, but you're like me, like my family. We have special… talents. All Atlantidians can communicate through their minds, since we are underwater. But my family can… it’s complicated. Let’s say we can enter another… level of the mind, where there’s no language, but only thought. I guess you could say we can communicate with people telepathically, as you would say here on land._

“On land?”

Rey's eyes became huge, and if he had not given her any other explanation, Rey would have convinced herself that she was talking with E.T.’s lost cousin. Ben had no reason to avoid the truth now, not if they were talking about something strictly related to her, at least: she didn't need to know who he really was, explaining it would mean telling her what he had done. 

He didn't want her to look a thim in a different way.

There was no need to talk about Snoke either. He still wasn't sure she was the girl he was looking for. And if she was, Ben didn't know what would happen to her if he took her to the wizard. 

So he told her about Atlantida, about the Force. That he was a merman. Yeah, he had a tail. No, he didn't have a triton. He became human thanks to a spell. Because… he wanted to see the Earth with his own eyes. 

Ben tried to satisfy Rey’s curiosity the best he could, but about what happened with Unkar Plutt, he had no explanation.

_I genuinely don’t know about what happened to you yesterday… it almost seemed like we were in a nightmare._

Rey bit her own lips.

“All of this, it seems impossible that it’s happening to me.”

_Rey, have you ever used the Force before? Don’t you don't know if your parents could use it too?_

Rey's expression of wonder fell away, and she turned her head away, ashamed, like she had been caught doing something wrong. 

Could she trust Ben?

She looked at their hands locked together and took a deep breath and spoke.

“I can’t explain yesterday either. But that was a memory of my childhood… sort of. He was… he was Unkar Plutt.” And then Rey told Ben everything: about Plutt, about her poverty, her being a thief and drug dealer, her escape from that world, and how she had survived eating trash before being taken in at the Millennium. During the story, she blushed more than once because of the humiliation. Ben's face, instead, was like a stone mask, but in his eyes she caught the same light he had the evening at the restaurant when she had been threatened.

When Rey finished talking, she was almost out of breath. She had told Ben everything; she was now sitting naked in front of him.

She bit her lips harder. “So… yes, I guess you already met my family! The man who brought me up!” She tried to play it as a joke but again tears were prickling her eyes.

Ben pinched her cheeks. _He has done one beautiful thing in his life then._

Rey blushed and blushed and blushed.

 _And if you have already introduced me to yours, I can’t wait to introduce you to my family, then._ He winked at her and it was unbelievable, but she kept blushing more. Not wanting to keep seeing him look at her with a victorious smile, she tried to change the subject of conversation.

“What… what about dreams? I keep having these weird dreams and I have the feeling they are important, but I can’t remember them properly. Is it something common between Atlantideans?”

At the mention of “dreams” Ben tensed up a little.

_About that… I am not sure either. I have to think about it. I will let you know more when I understand more myself, I promise._

Rey smiled back at him and relaxed a little. Her gaze fell upon a poster on the wall depicting a couple dressed in royal gowns dancing in the moonlight. The town’s Grand Ball. A treacherous thought crossed her head but, no matter how she tried to push it away, it was immovable. 

Would Ben like to go to the dance? If she asked him, would he accept? She looked at him while he was putting away the cups, the muscle of his arms evident even under a shirt. He was really attractive. And she was really an idiot. She couldn't even afford to rent a dress.

A gentle knock startled them both.

From the door peered Rose, who had brought a huge tray full of fruit and cake.

“Rey, I hope you don’t mind, but I heard your voice from the kitchen, and I thought I should bring you some food”

“Oh.” Rey smiled a little insecure, and Ben stood up to let Rose sit, despite the girl's complaints.

“I'm sorry, I hope I am not disturbing you but, since last night, when Ben brought you back unconscious, I've been devoured by anxiety. The others are worried, too. Are you all right?”

Rey nodded yes, but Rose clearly wanted to ask her more. Ben left the room to take the used mugs to the kitchen, giving them privacy. 

_I'll be back later, I have something to do._

_Oh, sure. Later._

When they were alone, Rose began to peel an apple for her. “Are you sure you're okay, Rey? Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Rey weighed her words for a moment. Rose was a good person, but she couldn’t share Ben’s secret. So she told Rose a shortened version of the story, one where she only fainted after getting lost and where there were no magic powers and telepathic communication. At the end of the story, Rose handed her a second peeled apple that Rey gratefully devoured. “I'm really glad you're okay Rey. But you have to promise me you'll be more careful in the future. I don't know what I would do if something happened to a dear friend of mine.”

Oh

_Dear friend._

Rey felt herself blush to the tip of her ears and filled her mouth with a huge slice of cake to hide the embarrassment in her voice. “Uh, yes ... I promise you”.

Rose's face lit up so much, she looked like a sunflower, then she took a package out of her bag and handed it to Rey. “It will be your birthday soon, right? This is a little gift from me. I hope you like it.”

Rey opened up the package enthusiastically. Inside there was a small diadem, very pretty, that shone like stars.

“It's for the dress you'll wear when you invite Ben to the Grand Ball.”

Rey nearly choked on the piece of cake she had just swallowed.

“What? Why? How?”

Rose’s smile was huge. “He’s really attractive, isn’t he? He's so kind. And he's clearly interested in you. Ever since he came here, he hasn’t been able to stop looking at you.”

“Do you really think so?”

Rose's smile widened even more. “Do you remember how his muscled arms felt like around you?” 

Rey felt her cheeks burning: she definitely remembered. So, yes, she should invite Ben to the ball.

* * *

  
  


Finding Unkar Plutt had been quite easy. Ben had just to read the right minds. To bend his weak will had been even easier: Plutt wasn’t any better than the ones whose treacherous thought brought Ben to this beast. Ben had been tempted. So much. When he saw where Rey had grown up, how this man was grotesquely big and scary and yet, not as scary as the ones that surrounded him. Ben really, really wanted to hurt him. 

But he was a better person than that. And so he simply “encouraged” Plutt to confess his crimes to the police. He left Rey’s old home knowing that not even Plutt would have put a foot in it for many years to come, and that somehow made him feel lighter, if not better.

* * *

Later, Ben decided to take a swim. Standing in the waist-deep water, he wiped the salt away from his eyes, not yet accustomed to the fact that now seawater burned them. Just like he still hadn't gotten used to his limited lung capacity or his slow, heavy movements in the water.

The sunset was almost gone and, from afar, he saw the artificial illuminations of the under construction festival turning on. 

“The Grand Ball, huh?” He didn’t mean to eavesdrop on Rey's thoughts, but she had directly shot them in his head with an intensity impossible to ignore.

There were balls in his kingdom too, as well as orchestras and banquets. His parents always danced first, while his uncle stuffed himself with shrimp cocktails and made long conversations with an old family friend, General Lando.

Ben hated those events. He hated dressing up and being invited to dance by a myriad of women that he could not refuse out of courtesy. He felt gangly and goofy. But now he missed the balls and more than everything else, he missed his family. He pushed away those uncomfortable thoughts and focused on his mission so that his heart would not be broken. Who knew when he would see them all again.

A voice burst into his head. “Your Highness! We found you!”

_What?_

Ben didn't believe in his own eyes. Swimming up to him were Generals Hux and Poe!

The two mermen looked confused. “Your Highness! What happened to you? Your tail…”

Ben had not realized how much he missed his home until he felt the urge to embrace the two most troublesome generals of the kingdom. The two mermen froze, not knowing if it would be better to comply with the court protocols and not touch the Prince, which could risk offending him, or hug him as friends, also risking offending him.

“Do not be stupid” Ben said, hearing their thoughts. “Those are outdated rules that don't matter to me or my family.”

“His Highness” said Hux, forcefully pushing the words out of his mouth “Has graced us with the Force, allowing us to share our unworthy thoughts with him.”

Poe hit him in the hip, and a huge smile formed on Ben's face. 

“Poe! Hux!What are you doing here? And how is everyone after the accident I caused? What about my father?”

This time Poe replied, “It was Master Luke who sent us to search for you. As for the Arena, all the wounded are recovering. And as for the king, he is better, praise to the Force, but he is still stuck in bed after that bad wound he got while training with the Master.”

So this was the lie his family had invented to protect him. Ben felt like a coward, and he did not want his family to be ashamed of him.

“Poe, Hux, it wasn't a training accident what happened to the King, but it was an accident. I was the one that hurt my father.”

The two mermen appeared surprised, but they stayed silent while they listened to his whole story, from the Arena to the ghosts, from Snoke to Rey.

Once Ben finished, he waited for their response, almost as if it were a verdict.

“And you trust this Snoke?” Hux asked skeptically.

No, he didn't trust him. He never had. Now that he had met Rey, it was clear to him that she was the one Snoke wanted him to meet. He made it happen.

_Because I say so._

But what was the reason? It was not yet clear to him.

_She will bring a cataclysm upon us._

And what about the dreams?

“No, I don’t.” Ben finally said “But Snoke is a powerful magician and he may be useful in solving whatever is happening into the sea. There is something extremely sinister about it. We need to be prepared.”

After a moment of thinking, Ben made his decision.

“Go back to Atlantida secretly. No one needs to know where I am and I don't want you to lie. I don’t want my family worrying more. Try to find out whatever you can about Snoke and then report back to me. Oh, and when you do, I need you to bring me something from the Palace.”

* * *

Theirs would be the happiest marriage ever, Rey and Ben knew it. So did Han, Leia, Luke, Artoo, C-3PO and all the others. Everybody danced happily in a huge hall, decorated with myriad of flowers, and from whose windows it was possible to admire the luscious green of Naboo. 

They danced together first, and with each turn they took the world around them changed in colors, like a rainbow. But gradually the colors became darker and darker until they found themselves surrounded by a blackness so thick that they could not see anything else but each other. There was no music or laughter anymore, but indistinct murmurs and, in their head, a distant hum. There were no more people dancing around them, but indistinct silhouettes floated like fish in the water. A metallic smell arose again and, this time, Rey felt it distinctly on the palate. She put a finger in her mouth, and when she took it out, it was covered with blood.

That morning Ben and Rey woke up from the same nightmare.

* * *

The next few days were spent shared between Ben's lessons on how to govern the Force and Rey's desperate attempts to find a gown that fit her wallet. Every effort had been useless so far. The Grand Ball was tomorrow, and it just seemed like this amazing – and affordable – dress didn't exist.

She wasn’t going to ask Ben if he would like to go to the ball with her. What good would it do? Rey threw away yet another advertising flyer of dresses at discount prices. She left work grateful to go back home, where Ben’s inquisitive gaze couldn’t have followed her. 

When she got out of the Seagull, the night sky was sparkled with stars and the air was crisp. She walked along the shore with heavy limbs caused by tiredness that had nothing to do with her job. She wanted to get distracted, she wanted to feel empty headed: she decided to focus on her feet and to count every step made, filling the head with numbers, not thought. But the more steps she took, the more she couldn’t pretend not to see how old her shoes looked like and that, maybe, they felt too little for her feet. If she had stopped walking abruptly would her shoes be able to prevent her sinking in the sand? Every step taken left a footprint behind her, but soon the breeze would have taken them away.

The sounds of the crashing waves startled her: Rey looked at the sea, at how impetus it looked like and jealousy hit her. Not being sure from where the desire came from, she threw away her shabby jacket and ran through the waves. She would swim until she was exhausted, until the fatigue would overwhelm any other emotions. 

With her head under the icy water, she felt free to cry. Her tears would mix with the sea, and her shame would stay hidden.

But something stronger than a wave lifted her up to the surface. It was Ben, holding her by the forearms and looking at her as if he had seen a ghost.

_What are you doing? Have you gone mad?_

Yeah, what was she thinking? Throwing herself into the sea at night, between the powerful waves. Maybe she was really crazy.

And so she started laughing, and then crying, and then screaming.

“I am tired! I'm tired of not being able to do anything I want! I'm tired of not having a future. I’m tired of being alone, apart from the company of a goldfish. I am tired of dealing with awful people at work and lowlifes waiting for me in alleys. I'm tired of finding out that I have super powers that I can't use properly and that can’t even buy me a dress so I can invite you to the ball. Assuming you’d want to come with somebody like me. And what the hell are you doing here? How can you always find me when... when…” And then all her words mingled with the tears, and Rey surrendered to sadness.

She felt his arms around her, warm and solid, and Rey leaned into Ben’s gentle embrace. 

_Let's get out of the water._

Ben took her in his arms and carried her while she continued to shed tears on his shoulders. He walked with her into a small wooden shed that had been abandoned for a long time. It was a famous place for couples to hide on the beach.

Ben eased her to the ground and, after finding some wood, he lit a fire.

“How do you know how to light a fire if you've lived underwater?” Rey asked.

He smiled. _The Atlantideans are intrigued by the surface; we love to study it._

Rey nodded in understanding and wiped her dripping nose on her shirt sleeve, not caring anymore about humiliating herself in front of him. 

_For the record, I was there because you called me. You do it every time you are scared._

Rey sank her head into her drenched arms. Great. So not only was she unable to provide for herself but, apparently, she used her newfound telepathic powers to put her brain in a constant state of SOS.

_You're not incapable at all, Rey. You are extraordinary in whatever you do. In all the effort you put into being independent. For your good heart, despite your past suffering. You're amazing Rey._

Rey raised her head in surprise: “You really think so?”

_Yes, and you are not alone at all._

Ben wiped away one of her tears, and the gentle touch made sweet warmth bloomin her belly. But it was also then that Rey noticed that his clothes were completely soaked. They adhered to his body, and his white shirt was completely transparent.

Rey looked at herself and realized that the same was true of her. Ben must also have become aware of that, because he turned his gaze away from Rey, and the two of them fell into an embarrassed silence.

When the fire crackled with warmth, it was easier to relax. Looking at Ben's wide back instead of his meditative face, Rey had the impression that, for once, she wasn’t the vulnerable one between them two.

“You know Ben, I wanted to ask you to come to the Grand Ball with me. But I don't have enough money to buy a proper dress, so I don't think it's possible.” Rey found herself smiling with resignation. If nothing else, she'd stopped crying.

Ben's shoulders relaxed too. _Yes, you do._

Ben passed her a black duffel that she hadn't noticed before. Inside, there was something meticulously packaged. Rey opened it, perplexed.

What she saw left her speechless: it was the most beautiful gown she'd ever seen. It was white as a glacier, with a texture similar to silk but even lighter. It had been decorated with corals, multicolored fish scales, and what looked like real pearls, but it was not possible, because these pearls were huge.

“What?”

_It's an Atlantidean dress, so water can't ruin it. It's also a family heirloom, sorry it's not new._

Rey stared at the dress with an open mouth, and then she threw herself at Ben’s back, hugging him tightly, not caring anymore about keeping herself from him.

“It's beautiful! It's the most beautiful thing I have ever received! But how did you know I wanted one?”

_That, too, you yelled in my head. Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, really._

Rey pressed her head between Ben's shoulder blades, dying of embarrassment.

He laughed. _What are you doing?_

“I’m trying to suffocate myself using your back muscles.”

_You think I'm muscular?_

Uh, what kind of question was that?

“Well, you are”

_And I am also a spoiled, rich brat, right?_

“Ben!”

His laugh shook his body and reached Rey’s heart.

_You really have to learn to control yourself_

“Uh.”

As if to apologize, Ben took Rey's hands and gently began to caress them. Rey felt safe, so much that she almost fell asleep. 

And then Ben kissed her knuckles, one by one, on one hand, and then again with the other one. He turned her palms up and bit one of them with care, but not enough not to hurt her a little. Rey believed he did it on purpose.

He turned back to look at her: his pupils were dilated and his cheeks were flushed. Rey knew it wasn't because of the fire.

 _Rey._ Ben’s voice was low and rough.

He pulled away a strand of hair from her face, and his fingers slowly reached her lips. He caressed them with such tenderness that Rey wondered if a kiss could be just as sweet.

_Do you want to know?_

Ben leaned in and Rey closed her eyes, feeling the beating of her heart in her ears.

“Stop peering in my thoughts, perv.” She grinned, pulling him down to her. That was the last thing she said before Ben’s scent overwhelmed her and his lips were so close, so close…

From afar she heard the city bells marking midnight and the official beginning of the festival. It was also her twentieth birthday.

Like a downpour that suddenly erupted, Ben and Rey were both hit by a flow of words, images, voices.

Memories.

They were no longer in the shed on the beach, but in a big, luscious garden. Rey was sitting at a fountain reading aloud to Ben. The young man could see that, not too far away, Palpatine was looking at them with benevolence. Behind him stood a shadow with frosty blue eyes.

In the great throne room his parents shook hands with Palpatine, ecstatic. Yes, the marriage could happen on Rey's birthday. Ben saw Rey smiling at the ring on her ring finger. In the corner of his eye he saw that the blue-eyed silhouette was still next to Palpatine. Why didn't anyone seem to notice but him?

The full moon was high up in the sky. The large ballroom had been decorated magnificently to celebrate their union. And yet no one was there. It was not the palace that Ben knew, he realized, since they were not underwater and he still was human.

At his feet Rey was laid out in a beautiful white gown drenched in blood. Ben’s sword impaled her.

**_“What have you done Ben?”_ **

Palpatine, mortally wounded too, dragged his body towards the couple.

“Rey, my beloved niece! Why did you kill her? You Skywalkers are monsters!”

The blue-eyed shadow looked at him with such intensity that Ben could have heard his head explode.

No, it wasn't true, there was something absolutely wrong with this memory, he could have never –

And then he was pushed away from that place, wherever it was, in the same way the water pushed somebody to the surface.

They were back in the beach shed, and Rey looked at him in shock.

“... What was it? What did it mean?”

_Rey, I don't –_

A storm exploded over their heads like a bomb. The door of the cabin flew open as if it were made of paper, and a chorus echoed from the beach.

_Rey Rey Rey_

Like the first time she had heard those voices, Rey could not help but listen, to move forward towards them.

“Yes, here I am. I'm coming”

Ben followed her confused. Whoever she listened to, he couldn’t hear.


	3. Part III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes at the end.

Part III

Rey was no longer on the beach but, again, in that dark and gloomy place. This time, she was no longer afraid. The ghosts hummed her name, and the taste of blood on her palate was sweet like sugar. She felt at home. And she wasn't alone anymore. Someone had responded to her cries of help. A few feet away from her, there was an old man, waiting for her with a loving smile. Next to him, there was a tall, knotted man with blue eyes. Strangely, she couldn’t see his features clearly.

The old man spoke to her with such a gentle voice. “My beloved Rey, my dear niece, I have finally found you”.

“You... who are you?”

“My name is Palpatine, and I was the Emperor of the Seven Seas before the Skywalkers stole my throne and took you away from me”

“The Skywalkers?”

“Tyrants who have used their powers to stir up my people and set them against me. They took away my throne, and then you. I thought you were dead, Rey. If I'd known you were still alive, I'd have come looking for you.”

“How did you find me, then?”

“It’s all thanks to my friend Snoke, a powerful magician who offered to help me because of his good heart.”

The man who was called Snoke looked at her with an indecipherable expression.

“What was that vision I had before?”

Palpatine sighed sorrowfully. “My beloved Rey, that was a memory of a distant past, of a long time ago, maybe not even on this planet. Even then the Skywalkers were jealous of our power, and they tried to steal it from us. They deceived you. Ben, their heir, pretended to be in love with you, and once married, he killed you”.

“... What do you mean? Are we reincarnations?”

“Certain things, my child, are difficult to understand and explain even for an old man like me. All I know is that all of this has already happened, maybe more than once. And it is bound to happen again. It is the Skywalkers who have cursed us. We have to stop them. You have to come to me, my child. Otherwise they'll kill me this time too, and they'll kill you too. And your parents... well, it's too late for them already, I fear.”

“... Are they dead?”

Palpatine lowered his face. “I'm afraid so, my child. They would have never abandoned you”

“Were they good people?”

Palpatine sobbed. “They were so good, so kind. And they loved you so much. It was such a cruelty to rip them away from you!”

Rey felt empty. She had been loved, but someone had taken that love away from her, because of power. And because of that, she grew up beaten and hungry, alone and helpless.

“What should I do?”

“Come to me, my child, come home before you fall into danger again.”

“Do you... do you know about what happened in town?”

“My child, of course! I know everything about you! Don’t you think it is interesting how, just when you were the most vulnerable, the Skywalker’s scion left you alone?”

“The scion?”

“The one you call Ben, Prince of Atlantida”.

Ben?

**Ben!**

Where was Ben? What happened to him?

Rey looked around her frantically, but she didn't see him anywhere.

“Girl” Palpatine approached her “The Skywalker heir is an usurper and a murderer. You can't trust him. Not even his family can.”

“No, he would never hurt me, he – ”

She felt somebody tugging her away from Palpatine. It was a warm grip she was now accustomed to, but before she could turn around and look at him, Palpatine took her face in her hands.

The face of the Emperor, for a second, looked like a corpse, but it all disappeared in a blink of an eye. “My child, if you want to meet me and be reunited with your family, just go into the sea and call for me, and I will come and bring you away.” 

Then Snoke murmured something indecipherable into Palpatine’s ear, and everything disappeared. 

Rey was again on the beach, surrounded by the tempest with Ben still holding her wrist.

_ Rey! What is going on? You were talking to thin air for a long time. I waited by your side until you started walking blindly into the waves. I hope I didn’t hurt you grabbing you like that. _

Rey looked at him right in the eye “Is your name Ben Skywalker?”

_ No, my name is Ben Solo. Skywalker is my mother's name. _

“And are you the Prince of Atlantida?”

…  _ Rey, who told you these things? _

“Are you?”

_ Yes. _

“And your family has always been on the throne of Atlantida?”

_ No, they won the throne when they defeated the Emperor Palpatine. _

Rey jerked away from him.

“So it's true! You're usurpers! My grandfather told the truth!”

_ Your grandfather? Rey, who are you talking about? What's happening to you? _

“I was not speaking to the thin air, right now, but to my grandfather, Emperor Palpatine! And we were talking about how your family stole his kingdom!”

_ Emperor Palpatine? _ Ben's voice was suddenly full of anger.

_ Palpatine was an evil tyrant! He ruled with violence and terror. We defeated him! _

“How generous of you! And I suppose nobody died during your crusade? There were no victims of the struggle?”

Ben immediately shut up. He had always thought of the deeds of his family as noble. He had never stopped to think how much their heroism must have cost the other side.

“Do you know, Ben, that my parents died in this war?” Rey's voice, so full of pain and anger, felt more powerful than thunder.

_ Rey, I'm sorry. _ There was nothing else he could have told her.

Rey wiped away her tears with the shirt’s sleeve. “My grandfather also told me that what I thought was a dream was a memory of my past life, the one when you killed me.”

_ This is a heinous lie! Do you really trust him? Do you really think he's your grandfather? I could never hurt you! _

Rey felt her legs weaken “No, maybe I don't trust him, but what about you? You did lie to me all this time!”

Ben could not reply to that.

Rey kept on, mercilessly, “What does it mean that ‘not even your family can trust you’? That’s what Palpatine told me.”

It was as if lightning struck him. Ben could no longer hide; he had to bare himself to Rey.

_ I attacked my father. I plunged my sword into his chest. I didn't mean for it to happen; it was an accident, but I did it. And then I ran away, and I came here.  _

Rey was not crying anymore. She stared at him, her eyes harsh. Without a word, she turned her back to him, and walked into the sea.

Rey was not crying anymore. She stared at him, her eyes harsh. Without a word, she turned her back to him, and walked into the sea.

_ Rey! Rey, where are you going? _

“Ben, I don't know if I trust Palpatine, but I want answers that you can't give me, so I'm going to him anyway”

_ Rey, don't do this, don't trust him. _

Rey gave him a sad smile “Goodbye, Ben”.

Then she dove into the waves, and when she stopped swimming, a stain like tar surrounded her and she disappeared. 

_ Goodbye, Rey. _

* * *

What to do? What to do? Frustrated, Ben was tempted to rip down the shed, but no, he had to calm down and find a solution.

“You are growing up, my boy.”

Snoke had appeared a few feet in front of him. He wore even more pompous clothes than usual, and his face had lost all pretense of affection, being cut, instead, by a smile of genuine malice. His voice was crystal clear despite the strong wind.

_ Is this another dream, or is it real? _

Snoke laughed. “Dream, reality... I don't think it matters anymore given the recent events. What matters, my boy, is that you kept your end of the deal, and I came here to keep my own. Enter the sea, and I will return your tail to you. To get the rest of the reward, you'll have to join me at the cave.”

And then, in a blink of an eye, he disappeared as if he had never been there.

What did he mean by saying Ben had kept his end of the deal? Rey had gone to Palpatine, hadn’t she? Snoke must have been working for him. Or with him? Was he the blue-eyed silhouette next to Palpatine in the vision he saw? The wizard had something to do with this, but Ben had the feeling that something was off with that memory.

Ben looked at the sky, and among the black clouds, heavy with rain, he could see the faint light of a full moon. There was no more time to think. He ran into the water and in a few moments, he became a merman again. This time the transformation was painless, perhaps because it was to his original form, or perhaps because he was too busy thinking about Rey. 

He had to get to Snoke as quickly as possible, but how? He didn't know where to go, and no matter how fast he swam, whatever Palpatine had in mind for Rey, Ben knew he could never arrive in time.

Then, almost as Fate itself decided to give him a gift, Whisper emerged among the waves. Ben swam enthusiastically to the faithful beast. Attached to the reins, there was a message

_ Thought you needed this. _

_ General Armitage Hux and General Poe Dameron _

Well, not a gift from Fate, then. But from friends.

Ben took the reins and he and Whisper started to fly.

* * *

When Rey arrived at Palpatine’s temple, she was greeted by wild screams of jubilation. Her grandfather sat on the white throne, and Rey realized that he was much older than he was in the visions. Next to him stood Snoke, even taller and creepier than she thought possible.

“My child” Palpatine spoke almost with reverence to her and immediately went to hug her. Although a part of her didn’t want to, she could not help but hug him back. If he had told the truth, then he was still her grandfather.

He led her to the throne and invited her to sit on it: “It is yours, my dear”.

Rey no longer had legs, but a mermaid's tail like the ones she had seen in fairy tale books as a child. She didn't even realize the transformation had happened until she started swimming. It was a weird sensation, but not a bad one. Actually, it felt right.

She sat down as requested and tried to look at the world from there: a vast and dark cave, populated by mysterious and disturbing creatures. She turned her gaze away from that sight.

“Palp– Grandfather, I want answers. I want you to explain to me what happened to me and what will happen now.”

Palpatine looked like she could have not asked a better question: “Child, what you need to know is that you are finally at home, and what you have to do is to kill the heir of the Skywalkers.”

“NO!” She jumped from the throne and swam away from him, but the old man grabbed her violently by the wrist.

“Child, you don't understand. The Skywalkers are the only thing that separates us from eternal glory! You are the only one gifted with the necessary strength to defeat them. And after that, the Seven Seas will be ours.”

“You... you lied to me! You said you wanted me to be at home with you!”

A long, thin hand grabbed her chin, and Snoke forced her to look at him in the eyes. They shone with a peculiar glow. “But you are at home, my princess. Remember? We've been looking for you for a long time, and since you're finally here, you don't want anything else to happen to your grandfather, do you?”

Snoke's voice was so mellow. Like the gentle murmurs of the ghosts.

“...Yes, I will fight the scion of the Skywalkers.”

* * *

The Force must have driven Whisper straight to the target. The poor beast was exhausted when Ben left him at the entrance of the cave they were searching for.

“Rest, my friend, you deserve it.”

With his sword drawn, another gift from Hux and Poe, he entered the cave.

He immediately recognized the taste of blood that had infected his dreams, as well as the creatures that made way for him when he passed: sith, dark creatures that were long thought to have disappeared. This must have been another one of Palpatine's machinations. Or was it Snoke’s doing?

As he swam forward, he heard a noise like war drums.

When he finally reached the main cave, beastly screams erupted in his head, and he found himself in front of his worst fear madee real. Palpatine and Snoke, side by side, and sitting on the throne, Rey.

She was no longer a human but a mermaid, with a tail as white as a swan.

In a corner, locked up in some kind of cage, was his uncle, unconscious. He tried to reach for him with the Force, but it seemed that his sleep was impenetrable.

“Welcome, young Skywalker! We were waiting for you, as you can see.”

“I can't say I'm excited about that, Palpatine, but I appreciate the welcome committee.”

Palpatine gave him a small smile. “Ah, you truly resemble your father, don’t you? Is he feeling better, by the way?”

Ben bit his cheek. It was not the time to show his vulnerabilities. “None of your business, Emperor. That's what you liked to be called right? Too bad it’s still a lie.”

Palpatine chuckled. “We'll see... You already know my granddaughter, correct? Yes, you do. We talked a lot about you, you know?”

“Rey! Don't listen to him, whatever he told you, he lied.”

“Shut up!” Rey's voice was full of a surprising poisonous resentment. “You will not tarnish the memory of my family ever again!”

With unexpected speed, Rey was upon him, wielding a ruby red sword. Ben managed to avoid her, but he got close to her enough to notice her yellow eyes.

“Are you surprised, young Skywalker? You have been a good teacher to Rey on Earth, but I'm good, too. And as you can see, I have all the necessary means for the learning process to be quite quick.” He hinted with his head to Snoke who, all that time, had not taken his eyes off Ben.

Rey attacked him again and again, but Ben still managed to deflect. It was not so much her strength that surprised him, but her ferocity.

“Rey! It is me, Ben! Don’t you recognize me?”

But whatever Snoke had done to her, Rey was deaf to his words. Ben realized that his only chance to stop her was to defeat her in a duel, which might mean killing her. And so Ben did the only right thing to do: he threw his sword away and stopped fighting. 

Palpatine laughed “The boy is weaker than we thought.” 

But Snoke, instead, had become tense.

Rey also stopped fighting and watched him, perplexed.

Ben took the opportunity to approach her and stroke her cheek. She tried to push him away, but he held her, again, by the wrists.

“Rey, I would rather die than hurt you. So if you have to, if it makes you happy, hit me. I know that when you are on that throne, you will rule with justice.”

Then he leaned near her ear, and spoke in a murmur, so that what he said would belong to them and to them only.

“I love you.”

* * *

“I love you” he whispered in her ear as they danced.

Rey giggled "Prince Ben Solo just fell in love with a nobody, a scavenger. What a scandal will this raise in the Court.”

“I think the only scandalous thing that will be spoken about for years after our marriage will be our wedding night.”

She blushed to the tip of her ears and hid her face into Ben’s chest, who chuckled.

It was their wedding day and her birthday, all at once, and Rey felt that the whole world was celebrating her.

When there was a knock at the doors of the throne room, they were opened in celebration, for anyone else. And that was how Palpatine and Snoke entered, in the most common of the ways: through the main door, like friends. 

They killed everyone in the room: Han, Leia, Luke, and everybody else. Only Rey and Ben resisted, fighting side by side. But then Palpatine wielded his sword at Ben, and Rey ran to him to shield him from the Emperor. It was tragically ironic, that it was the sword that Ben had drawn to protect himself from Palpatine that struck her down instead.

Ben looked at Rey covered in blood at his feet, in horror. He reached for her immediately and held her tenderly at his chest. 

“Ben, why...why all this? All this pain... we were supposed to be happy today.” 

She died in his arms.

And then Ben fought Palpatine and Snoke with desperation, until he killed them both. In the end, he killed himself too. 

When Snoke exhaled his last breath, he cursed them all, forever.

* * *

It was a distant horn of war that shook them up.

Rey and Ben looked into each other's eyes in amazement. So that was the truth. What happened to them, all of them. An eternal cycle of resentment. 

Ben held her tightly “I am not letting this happen ever again. Screw destiny.” 

Rey's gaze was knowing, loving, fierce “I know you won’t. And I won’t either.”

She turned to Palpatine “You! You used me! You used all of us! You told all those lies and lured us into traps. And what for? Revenge? I'm not even your granddaughter, am I?”

Palpatine burst into laughter “Of course you're not my granddaughter, you little bastard. You're just a nobody abandoned by two drunkard parents on a beach and that, somehow, managed to survive. Your only luck was to be born with an enormous potential for the Force which, unfortunately, Snoke and I noticed – or it would be better to say ‘remembered’ – too late,”

“You wanted her because you wanted to exploit her as a weapon?” Ben's voice was full of disgust. “You manipulated our visions, didn't you? Even that memory we all shared about the Ball. You manufactured it all, didn’t you?" 

Palpatine smiled, unbothered. “That is not due to me, but to Snoke’s magnificent abilities." 

The sorcerer gave an icy glare towards Palpatine, but he did not move. Not yet.

Ben prepared himself. “How could you remember all of this? And way before us?”

“Ah that it is  **_the_ ** question, my girl, it really is. I know you are not going to believe me, but, one day, it just happened. Just that. Maybe because I was searching for an answer, I don't know. But if you ask me, I think it was the Force itself that wanted me to. I think the Force wanted me to ‘fix’ the mistakes, you see.”

“I can see you massively failed” said Ben.

“Ah! The boy has some cockiness to him, really! But let me tell you, boy, something I have learned about the Skywalkers: you never understood the power of darkness. Once you bend it, it is very difficult to get rid of it completely.”

Before Ben could realize what was going on, Rey was upon him, with the ruby sword unfolded. Her eyes were not injected with a yellow brightness, but with tears as she was screaming to Ben to move, that she couldn’t control her body.

But Ben moved too slowly this time, and so, he just waited for the blow, hoping it wouldn’t hit him too hard. But the blow never came. Instead he heard Snoke’s screams, and then he saw Rey's chest covered in blood. It expanded in the water around her like a blooming flower. 

She had stabbed herself with her own sword.

“No! No! Rey, what have you done! What?” Ben reached for her and laid her with care, so much care, on the floor, afraid to move her too much.

Rey smiled at him. "I'd rather die than hurt you.” She was smiling but her teeth were now completely red. 

_ Not again! Not again! Please, don’t let this happen again! _

But it didn’t matter how much Ben prayed. Rey still closed her eyes, forever.

Snoke directed his anger at Palpatine, who sat speechless on the rack of a throne “Imbecile! We needed her alive to defeat him! And you made her die! Old putrid carcass, you should have died a long time ago, when your time had come. The only reason you're still alive is that I needed your army of fools against Atlantida. Well, I don't need it anymore. The Skywalkers are on their way. Did you hear their war horns?”

Without further ado, Snoke hit him with the Force lighting, and Palpatine became mere dust. The Emperor finally died.

Ben was weeping hard, not caring for the world around him anymore. His whole world had died in front of him. If he could have done anything, anything to get Rey back, he would have done it, but he only had himself.

_ You are more than enough _

Ben jumped in surprise: it was a soft voice, one he’d never heard before, that had spoken to him. Ben couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman’s, if it was young or old. All he knew was that it was pure and kind and that it trusted him. Somehow Ben knew, at a fundamental level, that the voice was incredibly important and that knew him completely.

So Ben would have to trust himself.

He laid his forehead on Rey's and spoke to her, pouring his heart out. “Rey, it's me, Ben. I hope you hear me, and if you don't, you have to, because if you don't live, I don't live either.”

And then he closed his eyes and kissed her.

Ben gave to the kiss everything he had and prayed that, whoever that voice was, it wanted to help.

_ You are more than enough _

_ Wake up _

_ Please wake up _

_ I love you _

Just like in the fairy tales, Rey woke up and looked at him as if he were the sun and the moon all together and Ben knew what happiness was.

“What a beautiful show.”

Snoke looked at them amused, and Ben hugged Rey closely.

“Well, we have little time, I suppose. Your family will be here soon, so take your sword and prepare for a final duel.”

The young couple looked into each other’s eyes, no longer needing words to communicate. They knew what they wanted, and what to say. 

“No, Snoke, I won't take my sword.”

“What? A duel of the Force, then!”

“No, Snoke, that's enough. Too much blood has been spilled. War is useless and we will not fight anymore. You can stop, too, Snoke. It's never too late.”

Snoke looked at them in bewilderment for a few moments and then burst into a mad laugh. “You think words like ‘useless’ and ‘blood’ hit me, don’t you? You sit comfortably on your thrones and think you know what ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ are, don't you?”

“No” Ben said, holding Rey’s hand tightly, “I just want people to stop suffering.”

“That is commendable but impossible, my prince. There are people like me who have lived a lot longer than you and have seen more horrors than you can imagine. And not just the horrors of war, but of the small, simple, selfish and disgusting daily machinations of merpeople and humankind. What do you think sorcerers are bound to? To serve, even when he does not want to. But if you get strong enough that no one can command you, what then?”

“I'm sorry, Snoke, I am. But there are people who genuinely wish the best for others.”

“Too bad” said Snoke “That I am not one of them.”

The wizard hit them with Force lightning so powerful that the entire cave was imbued with blue light. It was as if the storm had reached underwater. And yet Rey and Ben came out of it completely unscathed, as if nothing had happened.

Stunned, Snoke hit them again and again, but nothing changed.

Rey and Ben kept looking at him fiercely, holding each other’s hands. 

And then Snoke began to disappear, like a ghost.

Ah, so that’s how it was. He lost. The Force itself was telling him. So it really wanted to interrupt the cycle? Palpatine, in a way, had been right.

And now?

_ Don't be afraid, you're just coming back to me. _

Snoke gave a long last look towards the couple. Who knew if they would meet again?

The tempest ended.

* * *

It took some weeks to organize both their wedding and her belated birthday celebration, but it was worth it.

The Palace of Atlantida was beautifully decorated for the party, with festoons made of pearls and starfishes, and everywhere there were giant shells stuffed with colorful flowers and huge corals. The walls of the wedding hall were covered with white and golden fish scales, and they shone like stars. Rey wore the dress Ben had given her, and her hair was braided with white roses brought by Arthur and Threepio. The long, elegant, veil had been fixed on top of her head with the tiara that Rose gave her.

Leia and Han hugged her tightly, both calling her “daughter” already. She could have sworn she saw Luke, Ben's grumpy uncle, moved to tears seeing his nephew in his wedding attire.

For the record, Ben was incredibly handsome, as always.

_ Will you find me handsome tonight, when I won’t be wearing this fancy outfit? _

_ Ben! _

His laughter spread through her heart.

_ Just stop peering into my thoughts, pervert! _

_ I'll do it when you really want it.  _ He winked at her and Rey answered by sticking her tongue out at him.

The entire crew of the Millennium, thanks to a spell that allowed them to breathe underwater, was able to attend the wedding, even Chewbacca, who found an immediate kinship with Han. Arthur and Threepio, however, didn’t.

Beebee had a much bigger house now and was happily swimming around them.

Poe proudly discussed with Lando how they had been able to guess Snoke's plans and warn everyone, so as to prepare for the clash. 

Something very weird was that nobody knew who actually sent Whisper to Ben. Even though the sea horse had been accompanied by a message signed by Poe and Hux, the two generals swore they knew nothing about it. When Luke heard about that, he simply said the Force had its own curious sense of humor. 

Rose, on the other hand, had been fighting with Hux since they arrived. Although Rey was pretty sure she saw the general look at her with intrigue when he thought he wasn't seen by anyone, let alone his friend. 

The ball after the ceremony was beautiful, much more so than the one on the surface could have ever been. Or so she suspected, since she had never gone, since she’d never had a dress or a prince.

Well, she had the dress now, and as for the prince…

Ben spun her around and around, and the colors of the room whirled past them but stayed right. And when they met face to face, they saw their happiness reflected in each other’s eyes. Ben leaned into her ear and murmured to her “I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To whoever reached the end, to whoever approached this story and read it even a tiny fraction of it, I just wanted to tell you that I wish you to be happy. Maybe love exists. I certaintly want to believe so.   
> Thank you.


End file.
